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COPVRIGSIT DEPOSIT. 



THE BOYS OF '61 



OR 



FOUR YEARS OF FIGHTING 



PERSONAL OBSERVATION WITH THE ARMY 

AND NAVY 



FROM THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN TO THE 
FALL OF RICHMOND 



BY 

CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN 

AUTHOR OF "THE BOYS OF '76," "WINNING HIS WAY," "MY DAYS AND 

NIGHTS ON THE BATTLEFIELD," "FOLLOWING THE FLAG" 

"OUR NEW WAY ROUND THE WORLD," ETC. 



Illustrated 




BOSTON WYY^~ ^ 

ESTES AND LAURIAT 
1896 



\ 1 



Copyright, 1806, by 
ESTES AND LAURIAT 

Copyright, 1894, by 
CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN 

Copyright, 1881, by 
ESTES AND LAURIAT 

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by 

CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts 






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(Colonial $rrss: 

C. H. Simonds & Co., Boston, Mass.. U.S A. 

Electrotype'! by Geo. C. Scott & Sons 



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THE BOYS OF '61. 



1 



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CONTENTS 



I. First Weeks of the War 

II. Bull Run 

III. Preparing for the Great Struggle 

IV. Affairs in the West 
V. Opening of the Campaign in Tennessee 

VI. Pittsburg Landing, Fort Pillow, and Memphis 

VII. Invasion of Maryland . 

VIII. Invasion of Kentucky 

IX. From Harper's Ferry to Fredericksburg 

X. Battle of Fredericksburg 

XI. Winter of 1863 .... 

XII. The Atlantic Coast 

XIII. The Ironclads in Action 

XIV. Chancellorsville .... 
XV. Gettysburg 

XVI. From the Rapidan to the Wilderness 

XVII. From Spottsylvania to Cold Harbour 

XVIII. Getting Ready for a New Movement 

XIX. From Cold Harbour to Petersburg 

XX. Siege Operations .... 

XXI. Invasion of Maryland . 

XXII. Affairs in the West 

i^YTII. Scenes in Savannah 

7 



PAGE 

17 
31 

51 
73 
97 
115 
133 
160 
173 
184 
215 
225 
247 
256 
280 
327 
346 
367 
379 
401 
413 
423 
434 



8 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXIV. Sherman in South Carolina . . . . . . 469 

XXV. Occupation op Charleston ...... 482 

XXVI. The Last Campaign .508 

XXVII. In Richmond ........ 525 

XXVIII. Surrender of Lee ....... 553 

XXIX. Conclusion ........ 570 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

The battle of Bull Run ...... Frontispiece 

"The farmer harvested his hay and grain" .... 18 

"Military companies were forming" ..... 19 

Departing for the war ....... 20 

Major- General N. P. Banks ....... 21 

Lieutenant -General Winfield Scott ..... 23 

Colonel E. Elmer Ellsworth ....... 25 

Marshall House, Alexandria ...... 26 

The death of Ellsworth ....... 27 

Major Theodore Winthrop ....... 28 

"Cotton was king" ........ 29 

"Hunger gave it an excellent seasoning" .... 30 

The Confederate capitol at Richmond ..... 32 

Major -General Wm. S. Rosecrans ...... 33 

General Jos. E. Johnston, C. S. A. . . . . . . 34 

Lieutenant -General P. G. T. Beauregard, C. S. A. . . . 35 

Welcoming the soldiers . . . . . .36 

Telling stories and singing songs ...... 37 

"The Union cannon were sending answering shots" ... 41 

On the march to Bull Run . . . . . . .43 

Major -General Chas. Griffin ...... 47 

Major -General James B. Ricketts ...... 48 

"Who would listen for footsteps that nevermore would come" . 49 

Old Capitol Prison, Washington, D. C. . . . . .52 

Major -General Geo. B. MoClellan ..... 53 

General Robt. E. Lee, C S. A. . . . . . .55 

President Lincoln ........ 57 

Human Chattels ......... 59 

Lazy like all the rest ....... 63 



9 



10 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Helping himself to a turkey 

"a negro slave came into the lines" 

Discouraged ..... 

"The army was impatiently waiting" 

Major -General Henry W. Halleck 

" Phillis with a mob-cap on her head" . 

General Ulysses S. Grant 

Correspondents of Northern newspapers . 

Rear -Admiral Andrew H. Foote 

One of the gunboats .... 

"What can we do with 'em?" 

"The farmhouses are in the Kentucky style" 

Lieutenant -General Leonidas Polk, C. S. A. 

Gunboats attacking the fort 

Major- General C. F. Smith 

Storming the breastworks 

"I's 'fiscated" ..... 

Cutting a passage through the woods 

Lieutenant -General Albert Sidney Johnston, C. S. A 

Major -General Don Carlos Buell . 

Commissary wagons in the mud 

Major -General James A. Garfield 

"None to speed the plough" 

Siege guns ready to open fire at Corinth 

Battle of Malvern Hill 

Major- General John Pope 

"i am a correspondent" 

View in Culpeper .... 

Map of operations around Washington 

Major -General Fitz John Porter . 

"Citizens . . . cared for him" . 

Major -General E. V. Sumner 

Battle of Antietam .... 

"Waiting for orders" .... 

"Do they miss me at home?" 

"Many a wife mourned for a loved one whom they 

would see " . 
The newsboy ..... 

"The Union forever! hurrah! boys, hurrah!" 
"Slavery at its best" ..... 
"The broad green leaves ripening in thk sun" 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



11 



"you said, 'go back, you dog ! ' " 
President Lincoln visiting the army 
Major -General Ambrose E. Burnside 
"The gunners stood beside their guns" . 
Confederate sharpshooters .... 

Laying the pontoons ..... 

Map of operations around Fredericksburg 

Major -General Wm. B. Franklin 

Franklin's attack ..... 

Major -General John Gibbon .... 

"With a cheer the Union troops went up the hill" 
Caring for the dead and wounded 
Building cabins for the winter 
"The wind howling around them and the snow whirling into 
drifts" ........ 

Rev. Dr. Henry W. Bellows ...... 

A sister of mercy ....... 

"'Mars Linkum's' white tents the other side of the stream" 
"One of the citizens came for a guard" 
"May I have a furlough and go home to see the folks?" 
"Clasped in loving arms" ...... 

Return of a reconnoitring party ..... 

Battle between the "Monitor" and "Merrimac," Hampton Roads 

Major -General David Hunter 

"The cabins were deserted in an instant" 

Uncle Jim ....... 

Roll, Jordan ...... 

" Festoons and trails of gray moss swayed in the gentle breeze " 

"no more unrequited work in the cane-brake and cotton field" 

Slaves going to join the Union army 

"Near by was the chapel with a belfry and bell" 

"Moored near by" 

"Up Wilmington River" .... 

Bombardment of Sumter by ironclads 

Major -General Oliver O. Howard . 

Major -General Joseph Hooker at Chancellorsville 

Lieutenant -General T. J. (Stonewall) Jackson 

Map of operations around Chancellorsville 

Jackson's attack ...... 

Wounding of "Stonewall" Jackson 
Major -General John Sedgwick 



page 
168 
175 
177 
181 
185 
187 
191 
194 
197 
201 
207 
213 
216 

217 
218 
219 
220 
221 
222 
223 
224 
227 
229 
232 
233 
235 
238 
240 
241 
244 
245 
24S 
251 
257 
259 
261 
263 
265 
269 
272 



12 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Majok- General John Newton 

Sedgwick's attack 

Salem Church .... 

Major -General Geo. G. Meade 

Map of operations around Gettysburg 

On the march to Gettysburg . 

Major -General John Buford . 

Map of the Battle of Gettysburg . 

Major -General Carl Schurz . 

Major -General Winfield S. Hancock 

Lieutenant -General James Longstreet, C. S. A. 

Battery waiting for orders . 

Brevet Major -General Henry J. Hunt 

Major- General Geo. E. Pickett, C. S. A. 

Pickett's charge .... 

Up to the muzzles of the guns 

Tenderly cared for 

On the march to the Wilderness 

In winter quarters on the Rappahannock 

Lieutenant -General U. S. Grant 

Major -General Benj. F. Butler 

Major -General Burnside and staff 

Major -General Gouverneur K. Warren 

Brigadier -General Alexander Hays 

Map of operations around the Wilderness 

" The second line remained firm " . 

Sheridan's skirmishers . 

Brevet Major -General John C. Robinson 

Map of operations around Spottsylvania 

Map of operations near the North Anna 

Pontoon Bridge across the North Anna . 

Map of operations around Cold Harbour 

"The coming of the troops was hailed with joy" 

"Sundering of heart-strings" 

"She had lived in her master's family" 

Alexander H. Stephens, Vice-president C. S. A. 

Map of operations around Petersburg, July 17th 

Map of operations around Petersburg, July 20th 

Map of Richmond and Petersburg . 

Explosion of the mine ..... 

Drinking from the same canteen 



PAGE 

274 
275 
278 
282 
284 
285 
288 
291 
294 
296 
301 
305 
310 
311 
315 
318 
325 
328 
329 
330 
332 
335 
340 
342 
343 
344 
347 
349 
351 
358 
359 
364 
368 
370 
375 
384 
392 
395 
403 
405 
409 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



13 



" Going back once more to the army " 

"Nothing to do" 

W. T. Sherman . . . . 

General John B. Hood, C. S. A. 

Happy negro children .... 

In Andersonville Prison . . 

"Thenceforth to be their own masters" 

"Poor girl, she can't forget her children!" 

"Taking possession of the abandoned lands" 

"Playing the banjo all day long" 

Freedmen's battle -hymn 

"Planters . . . were bringing their cotton to market in flat 

boats" ..... 

"Going out in the early morning" 

Fun in Camp ..... 

Major -General John A. Logan 
Brigadier -General Judson Kilpatrick 
"Cotton of the finest fibre" 
Major -General Quincy A. Gillmore 
Sumter, 1865 ..... 

Rosa ....... 

"Taken to the fort in small boats" 

Sheridan and his generals 

Sheridan's scouts .... 

"The forenoon was passed in reconnoitring the position" 
Castle Thunder, Richmond, Va., where Union prisoners were 

confined ........ 

A SLAVE market ........ 

Desolation of war around Richmond .... 

Rear -Admiral David G. Farragut ..... 

Mansion purchased by the Confederate Government for Jeffer 

son Davis ..... 
In Libby Prison ..... 
Lieutenant -General Robert E. Lee, C. S. A. 
Libby Prison, 1865. From a war-time photo. 
Major- General Edward O. C. Ord . 
Charge of the cavalry 
Brevet Major -General Geo. A. Custer 
The McLean House where General Lee surrendered to General 

Grant ........ 

General Lee leaving the McLean House after the surrender 



page 
414 
421 
425 
427 
437 
439 
445 
448 
451 
453 
466 

467 
468 
471 
474 
475 
479 
483 
485 
500 
504 
509 
517 
520 

527 
529 
535 
537 

539 
542 
545 
549 
554 
557 
560 

563 
567 



INTRODUCTORY. 

TOURING- the year 1866, at the request of many friends, I 
*^* prepared a volume for the press, entitled " Four Years of 
Fighting." It was not intended as a history of the War of the 
Rebellion, but was mainly a record of some personal observations 
in the capacity of correspondent for the Boston Journal during 
the war. The volume has since been published under the title 
of " The Boys of '61." A third of a century has gone by since 
the outbreak of the Rebellion. The perspective has been changed 
by such a lapse of time ; the heat and passion of the hour have 
passed away ; records, which, at the close of the war, were inac- 
cessible, now are open to the public. The history of no other 
period has been written with such completeness. A volume 
written so soon after the close of the war, from the attendant 
circumstances, would be an incomplete record — a partial presen- 
tation of events. It is with a view of giving a more comprehen- 
sive and complete account of my personal observations that I 
have revised the pages of " The Boys of '61." I was an eye- 
witness of the first battle at Bull Run, of Fort Donelson, 
Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, Island No. 10, Fort Pillow, Memphis, 
Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Fort Sumter, Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania, North Anna, Hanover Court - house, Cold Harbor, 
Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, and Five Forks. I was in Savan- 
nah soon after its occupation by* Sherman on his March to the 
Sea. I walked the streets of Charleston in the hour of her 
deepest humiliation, and rode into Richmond on the day that 
the stars of the Union were thrown in triumph to the breeze 
above the Confederate Capitol. 

It seems a dream, and yet when I turn to the numerous note- 
books lying before me, and read the pencilings made on the 
march, the battle-field, in the hospital, and by the nickering camp- 

15 



16 INTRODUCTORY. 

fires, it is no longer a fancy or a picture of the imagination, but 
a reality. The scenes return. I behold once more the moving 
columns, — their waving banners, — the sunlight gleaming from 
gun -barrel and bayonet, — the musket's flash and cannon's 
flame. I hear the drum -beat and the wild hurrah! Grant, 
Sherman, Sheridan, Meade, Burnsicle, Howard, Hancock, and 
Logan are leading them ; while Sedgwick, Wadsworth, McPher- 
son, Mansfield, Richardson, Rice, Baker, Wallace, Shaw, Lowell, 
Winthrop, Putnam, and thousands of patriots, are laying down 
their lives for their country. Abraham Lincoln walks the streets 
of Richmond, and is hailed as the Great Deliverer, — the ally of 
the Messiah ! 

It has been my aim to reproduce some of those scenes, — to 
give truthful narratives of events, descriptions of battles, inci- 
dents of life in camp, in the hospital, on the inarch, in the hour 
of battle on land and sea, — writing nothing in malice. I have 
endeavoured to give the truth of history rather than the 
romance ; facts instead of philosophy ; to make real the scenes 
of the mighty struggle. 

CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN. 



19 

1 



THE BOYS OF '61. 

CHAPTER I. 

FIRST WEEKS OF THE WAR. 

FROM the close of the war with Mexico to April, 1861, the United 
States had been at peace with themselves and with all the world. 
Throughout the country men pursued their occupations with no thought 
of war. The United States was not a military nation. Isolated from 
Europe by the Atlantic there was no need for maintaining a great 
standing army. The military spirit engendered by the War of the Revo- 
lution and the last war with England in a great measure had died out. 
In some of the Northern States there were volunteer military companies 
arrayed in showy uniforms, which assembled for drill and kept step with 
the drum-beat and performed fantastic evolutions, to the great delight of 
village urchins. In other States there was scarcely the semblance of 
military organizations. The people did not anticipate war, made little 
preparation for any conflict of arms. The farmer harvested his hay and 
grain, drove his team afield ; the mechanic followed his occupations ; 
the merchant carried on his business, never mistrusting that in the evo- 
lution of events the country was suddenly to be involved in one of the 
greatest wars of all the ages. 

The firing upon the Stars and Stripes, the humiliation of the flag at 
Sumter in April, 1861, awakened the nation from its peaceful dreaming. 

In June I became an army correspondent of the Boston Journal news- 
paper. The first blood had been shed in the streets of Baltimore. New 
York and other States were quick to respond to the call of President 
Lincoln for troops. The patriotism of the Northern States was at fever 
heat, the drum beat was heard in every village. Military companies 
were forming — the young men of the country hastening to volunteer to 
serve for three months, or during the war. The Stars and Stripes were 
waving from housetop and steeple. Reaching New York I found it a 
sea of banners and decorations — the red, white and blue festooned over 



16 

THE BOYS OF '61. 
firP' 
^jorways and windows. The staid and sober city of Philadelphia I 

found had awakened to a new life. From the towns in New Jersey, 
regiments were taking their departure for Washington. The railroads 
could not give the soldiers transportation in passenger-cars, but the vol- 
unteers, eager to join the force gathering at the capital of the Republic, 
made themselves at home in the lumbering freight-cars. Fathers and 
mothers were bidding them good-by, with their handkerchiefs waving 







"the farmer harvested his hay and grain." 



their joyful farewells, little comprehending the meaning of the conflict 
of arms. 

Baltimore presented a striking contrast to the other great cities. It 
was dull and gloomy. Business was at a standstill. The pulses of 
trade had stopped. Merchants waited in vain for customers through 
the long summer day. Females, calling themselves ladies, daintily 
gathered up their skirts whenever they passed an officer or soldier wear- 
ing the army blue in the streets, and manifested in other ways their 
utmost contempt for all who supported the Union. 

General Butler, who had subdued the rampant Secessionists by his 



FIRST WEEKS OF THE WAR. 



19 



vigorous measures, had been ordered to Fortress Monroe, and General 
Banks had just assumed command. A regiment of raw Pennsylvanians 
was encamped on the hill by the roadside leading to the fort. Officers 
and soldiers alike were ignorant of military tactics. Three weeks pre- 
vious they were following the plough, or digging in the coal mines, or 
smelting iron. It was amusing to watch their attempts at evolution. 
They were drilling by squads and companies. " Right face," shouted an 







MILITARY COMPANIES WERE FORMING. 



officer to his squad. A few executed the order correctly, some faced to 
the left, while others faced first right, then left, and general confusion 
ensued. 

The officers were nearly as ignorant as the men. The regiment was 
marching in battalion front towards a pool of water. The colonel 
looked at the pool and then at the men, and shouted, " Gee round 
that mud puddle ! " The men comprehended the order, and " geed " 
in proper manner. 

Soldiers were building abattis, and training guns to bear upon the 
city, for there were signs of an upheaval of the Secession elements, 



20 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



and General Banks deemed it best to be prepared for whatever might 
happen. 

Passing on to Washington I found it in a hubbub. Troops were 
pouring in, raw, undisciplined, yet of material to make the best soldiers 
in the world, — poets, painters, artists, artisans, mechanics, printers, 
men of letters, bankers, merchants, and ministers were in the ranks. 
There was a rumble of artillery in the streets, — the jarring of baggage- 




DEPARTING FOR THE WAR. 



wagons, and the tramping of men. Soldiers were quartered in the 
Capitol. They spread their blankets in the corridors, and made them- 
selves at home in the halls. 

The volunteers found that camp life was not quite so comfortable as 
home life. A bed on the ground was not so inviting as a mattress in 
the home chamber. When the reveille sounded at daybreak they would 
like to take another nap. 

Colonel Stone, with a number of regiments, was marching out from 
Washington to picket the Potomac from Washington to Point of Rocks. 
General Patterson was on the upper Potomac, General McClellan and 
General Rosecrans, with Virginia and Ohio troops, were driving the 



FIKST WEEKS OF THE WAR. 



21 



Rebels from Rich Mountain, while General McDowell was preparing to 
move upon Manassas. 

These were all new names to the public. Patterson had served in 
the Mexican War, but the people had forgotten it. McClellan was 
known only as an engineer, who had made a report concerning the 
proposed railroad to the Pacific, and had visited Russia during the 
Crimean War. General Wool was in New York, old and feeble, too 
far advanced in life to take the 
field. The people were looking 
to General Scott as the Hercules 
of the hour. Some one had called 
him the " Great Captain of the 
Age." He was of gigantic stat- 
ure, and had fought gallantly on 
the Canadian frontier in 1812, 
and with his well-appointed army 
had marched in triumph into the 
City of Mexico. The events of 
the last war with England, and 
that with Mexico, in which Gen- 
eral Scott was always the central 
figure, had been rehearsed by the 
stump orators of a great political 
party during an exciting cam- 
paign. His likeness was familiar 
to every American. It was to be 
found in parlours, saloons, beer- 
shops, and in all public places, — 
representing him as a hero in 
gold - embroidered coat, epaulets, 
chapeau, and nodding plume. His 

was the genius to direct the gathering hosts. So the people believed. 
He was a Virginian, but loyal. The newspapers lauded him. 

But he was seventy-five years of age. His powers were failing. His 
old wound troubled him at times. He could walk only with difficulty, 
and it tired him to ride the few rods between his house and the War 
Department. He was slow and sluggish in all his thoughts and actions. 
Yet the people had confidence in him, and he in himself. 

The newspapers were filled with absurd rumours and statements con- 




MAJOR- GENERAL N. P. BANKS. 



22 THE BOYS OF '61. 

cerning the movements and intentions of the Rebels. It was said that 
Beauregard had sixty thousand men at Manassas. 

Rumour reported that General Joseph E. Johnston, who was in the 
Shenandoah Valley, destroying the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and 
burning the bridges across the Potomac, had thirty thousand men ; 
but we now know that his whole force consisted of nine regiments, two 
battalions of infantry, three hundred cavalry, and sixteen pieces of 
artillery. 

These exaggerations had their effect at the War Department in Wash- 
ington.- General Butler proposed the early occupation of Manassas, to 
cut off communication by rail between Richmond and Upper Virginia, 
but his proposition was rejected by General Scott. The troops in and 
around Washington were only partially organized into brigades. There 
was not much system. Everybody was full of zeal and energy, and 
there was manifest impatience among the soldiers at the inactivity of 
the commander-in-chief. 

The same was true of the Confederates. They were mustering at 
Manassas. Regiments and battalions were pouring through Richmond. 
Southern women welcomed them with sweetest smiles, presented them 
with fairest flowers, and urged them on to drive the " usurper " from 
Washington. Southern newspapers, from the commencement, had been 
urging the capture of the Federal Capital. Said the Richmond Examiner : 

" The capture of Washington is perfectly within the power of Virginia 
and Maryland, if Virginia will only make the effort by her constituted 
authorities. Nor is there a single moment to lose. The entire popula- 
tion pant for the onset. . . . 

" From the mountain tops and valleys to the shores of the sea, there 
is one wild shout of fierce resolve to capture Washington City, at all 
and every human hazard. That filthy cage of unclean birds must and 
will assuredly be purified by fire. ... It is not to be endured that this 
flight of abolition harpies shall come down from the black North for 
their roots in the heart of the South, to defile and brutalise the land. . . 
Our people can take it, — they will take it, — and Scott the archtraitor, 
and Lincoln the beast, combined, cannot prevent it. The just indigna- 
tion of an outraged and deeply injured people will teach the Illinois Ape 
to repeat his race and retrace his journey across the borders of the free 
negro States still more rapidly than he came ; and Scott the traitor will 
be given the opportunity at the same time to try the difference between 
Scott's tactics and the Shanghae drill for quick movements. 




LIEUTENANT-GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT. 



FIRST WEEKS OF THE WAR. 25 

" Great cleansing and purification are needed and will be given to 
that festering sink of iniquity, — that wallow of Lincoln and Scott, — the 
desecrated city of Washington ; and many indeed will be the carcasses 
of dogs and caitiffs that will blacken the air upon the gallows before the 
work is accomplished. So let it be." 

General Beauregard was the most prominent of the commanders, 
having been brought before the public by the surrender of Fort Sumter. 
Next in prominence were the two Johnstons, Joseph E. and Albert 
Sydney, and General Bragg. Stonewall Jackson had not been heard 
from. Lee had remained with General Scott, — his confidant and chief 
adviser, — till the 19th of April, and then resigned his commission. 
The Virginia convention had passed the 
ordinance of secession three days before 
his resignation, with a proviso submitting 
it to the people for ratification. The con- 
spirators who brought it about foresaw 
that the events of the hour would compel 
the State to cast in its lot with the Con- 
federacy. Three days after the election 
on June 22d, General Lee was appointed 
to command the State troops, and was 
sent to the western section of the State, 
with several regiments to overawe the 
Unionists of the mountain region. 

Union troops had taken possession of col. e. elmer ellswokth. 
Alexandria a few days before my arrival 

in Washington, and Colonel E. Elmer Ellsworth, commanding a regi- 
ment of Zouaves, had been shot by the keeper of the Marshall House, 
Mr. Jackson, as he was descending the stairs with a Confederate flag, 
which he had taken from its staff on the roof. The tavern-keeper in 
turn had been shot by one of the Zouaves, Francis E. Brownell. The 
death of Ellsworth had created a profound impression throughout the 
Northern States. People were beginning to see that war was a serious 
matter. Ellsworth the year before had commanded a company of Zou- 
aves in Chicago, and had visited Boston and other Eastern cities, exhibit- 
ing their efficiency and discipline ; he was therefore widely known and his 
death greatly lamented, especially by President Lincoln, who held him in 
high esteem. In the Southern States, on the other hand, he was regarded 
as a marauder, while the tavern-keeper was lauded as a martyr to liberty. 




26 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



There had been an engagement at Big Bethel, a short distance from 
Hampton in Eastern Virginia, between troops sent out by General Benja- 
min F. Butler and a body of Confederates, in which two brave young 
Union officers lost their lives — Lieutenant Guble and Major Theodore 
Winthrop. The last named had shown marked ability as a writer. 




MARSHALL HOUSE, ALEXANDRIA. 



The city of Washington, before the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, 
was dominated by Southern sentiment, but with the secession of the 
States many of the clerks in the departments had resigned their positions 
and left for their Southern homes. It was a sad day to those whose 
homes were in Virginia when that State voted to secede. They laid the 
cause of all the trouble to the Abolitionists of the Northern States. I 
reminded one Southern gentleman that the Commercial Convention, 



FIRST WEEKS OF THE WAR. 



27 



which met at Montgomery, Alabama, in 1858, boastfully proclaimed to 
the world that " Cotton was King ; " that Virginia had descended from 
her once proud position as a thrifty Commonwealth and had taken up 
the occupation of breeding human cattle for the cotton marts of the 
South. It had prided itself on name and blood, — delighting to trace its 
lineage back to the cavaliers of Old England, and which looked down 
with haughty contempt upon the man who earned his bread by the sweat 




THE DEATH OF ELLSWORTH. 



of his brow. The original " gentleman " of Virginia possessed great 
estates, which were not acquired by thrift and industry, but received as 
grants through kingly favour. A thriftless system of agriculture, pur- 
sued unvaryingly through two centuries, had greatly reduced the patri- 
mony of many sons and daughters of the cavaliers, who looked out of 
broken windows and rickety dwellings upon exhausted lands, overgrown 
with small oaks and diminutive pines. 

A young miss informed me that the Yankees were nothing but old 
crabs, and did not know the meaning of gentility. 



28 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



On June 17th, I visited Arlington Heights, where a portion of the 
Union troops were encamped beneath the trees upon the estate of Robert 
E. Lee. The furniture had been removed from the spacious mansion — 
his old home overlooking the Potomac. Among the debris in one of 
the apartments were military maps and drawings, which had been left 
behind by the departing owner. He had stood high in the estimation of 
General Scott. It was he who commanded the United States Marines 
in the John Brown affair at Harper's Ferry. 







7&F- '■■ 












m 


_rfj«ff9 




BfSPfi' 


. 




• 



MAJOR THEODORE WINTHROP. 

Suddenly from over the hills came the boom of a cannon. Making 
my way to Alexandria, I learned that a reconnoitering party of the First 
Regiment of Ohio volunteers had gone up the railroad leading to Landon 
County — not marching in military order, but riding on platform-cars, 
pushed by a locomotive — a novel way of invading a country held by an 
enemy. Before reaching the litttle hamlet an old man stepped out from 
the bushes, making signs and gestures for them to stop. 

" Don't go. The Rebels are at Vienna," 

" Only guerillas, I reckon," said one of the officers. 

General Schenck, who was in command, waved his hand to the e^ 
neer, and the train moved on. Suddenly there were quick discharge. a 



FIRST WEEKS OF THE WAR. 



29 



artillery, a rattling of fire of small arms, and unearthly yells from front 
and flank, within an hundred yards. The unsuspecting soldiers were 
riddled with solid shot, canister, and rifle-balls. Some tumbled headlong, 
never to rise again. Those who were uninjured leaped from the cars. 
There was great confusion. 

" Lie down ! " cried some of the officers. 







" COTTON WAS KING." 



" Fall in !" shouted others. 

Each did, for the moment, what seemed best. Some of the soldiers 
fired at random, in the direction of the unseen enemy. Some crouched 
behind the cars ; others gained the shelter of the woods, where a line 
was formed. 

They gathered up the wounded, carried them to the rear in blankets, 
began their homeward march, while the Confederates, eleven hundred 
strong, up to this moment sheltered behind a woodpile, rushed out, 
destroyed the cars, and retreated to Fairfax. 



30 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



A messenger came in hot haste to Alexandria, and several regiments 
were ordered to advance. I accompanied them. It was my first expe- 
rience during the war. The troops advanced nearly to Vienna, but 
found no enemy. No rations had been provided, but the cows belong- 
ing to a prominent farmer were slaughtered, and the steak broiled over 




"HUNGER GAVE IT AN EXCELLENT SEASONING. 



a bivouac fire. Salt was wanting, but hunger gave it an excellent 
seasoning. No enemy was to be found, and the troops returned to 
Alexandria. 



CHAPTER II. 

BULL RUN". 

MOST of the troops in and around Washington were those which 
responded to the call of President Lincoln for three months' ser- 
vice. A few of the regiments enlisted under the second call for three 
years had arrived. All were undisciplined. The term of service for 
most of the three months' men would expire by the end of July. Rich- 
mond had become the capital of the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis and 
his Cabinet were there, and the Confederate Congress was holding its 
sessions in the State Capitol. Throughout the Southern States the move- 
ment of the Confederate Government to Virginia was looked upon as 
the preliminary step to seizing Washington. Throughout the North it 
was regarded as a menace. The people were demanding a movement 
against the Confederate Capital, not comprehending the strength of 
the Rebellion ; that Virginia, east of the Blue Ridge, was in the white 
heat of secession. Troops from the Gulf States were pouring into the 
newly selected Confederate Capital, and from thence moving northward 
to Manassas Junction, thirty miles from Washington. The motive on 
the part of the Confederates was to keep alive the secession feeling in 
Maryland, the seizure of Washington thus making the former capital of 
the nation the capital of the Confederacy, which, in turn, would bring 
recognition from European nations as the dominant power in the West- 
ern world. The section of Virginia west of the Blue Ridge had seceded 
from the State and formed a provisional government at Wheeling, and 
was asking recognition from Congress. The convention had elected 
F. H. Peirpoint governor, and had taken a recess till August. At the 
outbreak of the Rebellion, Ohio troops had crossed the Ohio River. 
They were commanded by General George B. McClellan, who had been 
appointed major-general by Governor Dennison, of Ohio. His subordi- 
nate commanders were Generals Morris and Rosecrans. General Pe- 
gram, commanding a Confederate force, was entrenched on Rich Moun- 
tain. A plan of attack was devised by Rosecrans, which, after much 

31 



32 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



hesitation, was accepted. McClellan, with Morris's troops, was to threaten 
an attack in front, while Rosecrans was to make a night march and gain 
the rear of the Confederates. At daylight, on the morning of the 
11th of July, after a long march through a thick mist up the mountain- 
side, Rosecrans came upon the Confederates, and, after a sharp skirmish, 
charged upon the Confederate entrenchments, captured twenty-one pris- 
oners, two cannon, fifty stand of arms, and all the provisions of the 




THE CONFEDERATE CAPITOL AT RICHMOND. 

enemy, putting the entire force to flight. General Pegram spiked his 
four remaining cannon, abandoned his camp, and attempted to join 
General Garnett, who was on Tunnel Hill, but, finding himself penned in, 
surrendered his entire command of nearly six hundred. On July 13th 
there was an engagement between Garnett's and the Union troops at 
Carrick's Ford, one of the crossings of Cheat River, in which Garnett 
was killed and his troops put to flight. The engagements were insig- 
nificant affairs, when contrasted with subsequent battles, but they had 
momentous influence upon the political affairs of the country, and 



BULL RUN. 



33 



the subsequent course of the war. General McClellan sent a telegram 
announcing his exploits, dated at Huttonsville, July 14th: 

" Garnett and forces routed, his baggage and one gun taken, his army 
demolished, Garnett killed. We have annihilated the enemy in west- 
ern Virginia, and have lost thirteen killed and not more than forty 
wounded. We have in all killed at least two hundred of the enemy, and 
the prisoners will amount to at least one thousand. Have taken seven 
guns in all. 1 still look for the cap- 
ture of the remnant of Garnett's army / 
by General Hill. The troops defeated 
are the crack regiments of eastern 
Virginia, aided by Georgians, Ten- 
nesseeians and Carolinians. Our suc- 
cess is complete, and secession is killed 
in this country." 

The dispatch, like those of Napo- 
leon from his great battle-fields, elec- 
trified the country and made General 
McClellan the hero of the hour. It 
awakened the enthusiasm of the troops 
preparing to move against the enemy 
at Manassas. There was confident ex- 
pectation that the Confederate forces 
there would be brushed aside, and 
that the army would move on with 
flying banners to Richmond. 

From the beginning of the conflict it was seen by Unions and Confed- 
erates alike that the Shenandoah Valley would be an important avenue 
of communication ; that Harper's Ferry and AVinchester would be stra- 
tegic points in that direction ; that Manassas Junction would also be an 
important point east of the Blue Ridge. General Joseph E. Johnston 
was appointed commander of the Confederate troops in the Shenandoah, 
and General Beauregard commander of the forces assembling at Manas- 
sas Junction. The latter had conducted the siege against Fort Sumter, 
and was regarded throughout the South as a hero. On the Union side, 
General Irwin McDowell was appointed commander of the forces at 
Arlington Heights. The country had been at peace since the war with 
Mexico. General Scott and General Wood were the only commanders 
on the Union side who had achieved any distinction in past years of 




MAJOR-GENERAL WM. S. ROSECRANS. 



34 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



whom the country had knowledge. On the Confederate side, General 
Johnston had conducted an expedition against the Mormons in Utah. 
Beauregard, by his bombardment of Sumter, had come prominently 
before the public. General Robert Patterson was appointed commander 




GENERAL JOS. E. JOHNSTON, C. S. A. 



of the troops gathered at Harper's Ferry. He had served in the war 
with Mexico, but he was nearly three score and ten. His chief of staff 
and chief adviser was Colonel Fitz John Porter. The movement against 
the Confederates was to be made by McDowell. Patterson, the while, 



BULL RUN. 



35 



was to keep Johnston from joining Beauregard. It was no secret that 
McDowell was to attack the Confederates at Manassas. The corre- 
spondents in Washington telegraphed the information of McDowell's 
intentions. Confederate sympathisers were to be found in all the 




LIEUTENANT-GENERAL P. G. T. BEAUREGARD, C. S. A. 

departments of government. Every night a mail was despatched secretly 
to Richmond, giving minute details of all that was going on, and of the 
intentions of the Union commanders. Everybody was familiar with the 
events of each succeeding hour — what regiments were arriving, how 



36 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



they were brigaded, what regiments would return home before the expi- 
ration of the month. It was known that General Scott did not advise 
a movement with undisciplined troops. But were not the Confederate 




WELCOMING THE SOLDIERS. 



troops equally undisciplined ? The country was impatient at the long 
delay ; the Rebellion must be crushed at once ; the Confederates must 
be driven from Richmond. It never would do for the regiments which 



BULL RUN. 



3T 



had been drilling for three months to return to their homes without 
once seeing a Confederate soldier. Such considerations determined the 
military authorities to make the first great movement of the war. 

It was past noon, July 17th, when the division, commanded by Gen- 



Hip" 5 


- " - s2- ■"" ' 


- . . 








mm 






• 




- 












.-.■. 


W$MiWm 










' 






TELLING STORIES AND SINGING SONGS. 



eral Tyler, of Connecticut, who had received a military education, took 
up its line of march from Fall's Church towards Vienna. The other 
divisions, moving from Alexandria, advanced towards Fairfax Court- 
house, the objective point being Centerville. I accompanied Tyler's 
division. The troops were in high spirits ; they were going to fight a 
battle, move on to Richmond and put an end to the Rebellion. Some 



38 THE BOYS OF '61. 

of the inhabitants along the road, Union men, who had voted against 
secession, welcomed their coming ; others made no demonstration, 
evidently not caring to show their sympathies, either for or against 
the Union. At times the bands played. It was an inspiring spectacle 
— the long column of troops, with the Stars and Stripes, and the flags 
of their respective States waving in the gentle breeze, and the bright 
sunshine glinting from their bayonets. 

The head of General Tyler's column reached Vienna at sunset. The 
infantry turned into the fields, while the artillery took positions on the 
hills. Near the railroad was a large wood-pile, behind which the South 
Carolinians took shelter when they fired upon the Ohio boys on the 
cars. It was convenient for bivouac fires, and the men helped them- 
selves willingly. 

During the evening the soldiers told stories and sang songs. They 
had read the gasconade of the newspapers of Richmond, and the 
proclamation of General Beauregard, issued June 5th, addressed to 
the people of London, Fairfax, and Prince William Counties, and 
resented his vilification of President Lincoln and the Northern troops. 
Thus it read : 

" A reckless and unprincipled tyrant has invaded your soil. Abraham 
Lincoln, regardless of all moral, legal, and constitutional restraints, has 
thrown his abolition hosts among you, who are murdering and imprison- 
ing your citizens, confiscating and destroying your property, and com- 
mitting other acts of violence and outrage too shocking and revolting to 
humanity to be enumerated. 

" All rules of civilised warfare are abandoned, and they proclaim by 
their acts, if not on their banners, that their war-cry is 'Beauty and 
Booty.' All that is dear to man, — your honour, and that of your 
wives and daughters, — your fortunes and your lives, are involved in this 
momentous conflict." 

In contrast to this fulmination of falsehoods, General McDowell had 
issued an order on the 2d of June, three days previous to Beauregard's, 
directing officers to transmit statements on the following points : 

" First. The quantity of land taken possession of for the several 
field-works, and the kind and value of the crops growing thereon, if any. 

" Second. The quantity of land used for the several encampments, 
and the kind and value of the growing crops, if any. 

" Third. The number, size, and character of the buildings appropri- 
ated to public purposes. 



BULL RUN. 39 

" Fourth. The quantity and value of trees cut down. 

" Fifth. The kind and extent of fencing' destroyed. These state- 
ments will, as far as possible, give the value of the property taken, or of 
the damage sustained, and the name or names of the owners." 

A portion of the troops bivouacked in an oat-field, where the grain 
was standing in shocks, and some of the artillerymen appropriated the 
convenient forage. 

The owner was complaining bitterly of the devastations. " They have 
taken my grain, and I want my pay for it," he said to me. 

" Are you a Union man ? " I asked. 

" I was for the Union till Virginia seceded, and of course had to go 
with her ; but, whether I am a Union man or not, the Government is 
bound to respect private property," he replied. 

At that moment General Tyler rode past. 

" Say, General, ain't you going to pay me for my property which your 
soldiers destroyed ? " 

" There is my quartermaster ; he will settle with you." 

The man received a voucher for whatever had been taken. 

The troops moved leisurely the following morning. The correspond- 
ents of the newspapers, eager to see whatever might happen, joined the 
Videttes in the advance. We reached Flint Hill, and came in sight of 
Fairfax Court-house, above which the Confederate flag was waving. 

Not far away I could see two Confederate cannon, squads of soldiers, 
wagons, horsemen riding furiously. Nearer, within long musket shot, 
were half a dozen Confederate cavalrymen. Captain Joseph Hawley, 
since Senator in Congress, was in command of the skirmishers. Taking 
a Sharp's rifle from one of the soldiers, he rested it upon the top rail of 
the fence by the roadside, and sent a bullet singing towards the men in 
gray. It was the first shot fired by the army advancing towards Bull 
Run. All but one of the Confederates put spurs to their horses and 
galloped towards Centerville ; the soldier who did not flee came towards 
us, and voluntarily gave himself up, saying that he did n't want to fight 
anybody. 

" The enemy is in force just ahead," said one of the Union officers, 
who advanced and reconnoitered the ground. 

Two pieces of Varian's New York battery came into position by the 
Flint Hill schoolhouse, and sent a couple of shells towards the Confeder- 
ates, who precipitately fled, casting away blankets, and other equipments. 

The column moved on. The occupants of the house met us with joy- 



40 THE BOYS OF '61. 

ful countenances. The good woman, formerly from New Jersey, brought 
out a pan of milk, at which we took a long pull. 

" I can't take pay ; it is pay enough to see your countenances," she 
said. 

Turning from Fairfax road the troops moved toward Germantown, 
north of Fairfax, — a place of six miserable huts, over one of which the 
Confederate flag was flying. Bonham's brigade of South Carolinians 
was there. Ayer's battery galloped into position. A shell was sent 
among them. They were about leaving, having been ordered to retreat 
by Beauregard. The shell accelerated their movements. Camp equi- 
page, barrels of flour, clothing, entrenching tools, were left behind, and 
we made ourselves merry over their running. 

Those were the days of military romance. War was a pastime, a 
picnic, an agreeable diversion. 

A gray -haired old negro came out from his cabin, rolling his eyes 
and gazing at the Yankees. 

"Have you seen any rebels this morning?" we asked. 

" Gosh a' mighty, massa ! Dey was here as thick as bees, ges 'fore 
you cum ; but when dat are bumshell cum screaming among ' em, dey 
ran as if de Ole Harry was after ' em." 

All of this, the flight of the enemy, the negro's story, was exhilara- 
ting to the troops, who more than ever felt that the march to Richmond 
was going to be a nice affair. 

The sun shone from a cloudless sky ; and the birds were singing 

merrily when the army, on the morning of July 18, reached Centerville, 

the correspondents in advance. It was a wretched village. Richard- 

• son's brigade of Tyler's division turned down the road leading to 

Blackburn's Ford, across Bull Run. 

General Richardson was a veteran of the Mexican War, brave and 
eager to come in contact with the enemy. Hastening down from 
Centerville, I came upon his line in a field by a deserted farmhouse. 
Looking with my field - glass towards Bull Run, I could see a battery of 
Confederate artillery under the green trees, the farther side of the wind- 
ing stream. A puff of smoke burst upon the summer air. I heard 
something scream above my head, and fall, with a heavy thud, upon the 
earth behind me. It was the first approaching cannon-shot I had ever 
heard. Far different the feeling from that which one experiences when 
one sees a missile spring from the cannon's muzzle towards an enemy. 
My hair stood on end ; a cold shiver flashed down my back. Involun- 



BULL RUN. 



41 



tarily I dodged behind a sheltering bank. Another — a third— a fourth 
came from the belching guns. How quickly one gets accustomed to 




■'-A* 




- A*. 



" THE UNION CANNON WERE SENDING ANSWERING SHOTS." 

danger. I found myself making an arithmetical calculation of chances, 
and soon began to time the interval between the flash of the gun and 
the whirring of the ball over my head. A squadron of cavalry came 



42 THE BOYS OF '61. 

galloping down the slope and formed in the field, but suddenly a fatal 
shot tore through the ranks, disemboweling a horse, and they galloped 
to a safer place. The Union cannon were sending answering shots 
towards the Confederates. Far away towards Manassas clouds of dust 
were rising, and, at times, I caught glimpses of Confederate troops 
hastening towards the scene of conflict. 

Just why General Tyler ordered Richardson's troops to advance I do 
not know. It was plain that the Confederates were on the farther bank 
of the stream. Equally clear was it that General McDowell's troops 
were not in position to begin a general engagement. The brigade filed 
down the hill, the Massachusetts First Volunteers leading, coming into 
line in a pasture. Suddenly there was a ripple and roll of musketry 
from both banks of the stream, and a wild yell from the Confederates. 
I had followed the advancing troops with eager enthusiasm to see all 
that might happen. But the air was full of strange noises, louder and 
more alarming than the humming of bees. Union bullets were plough- 
ing the ground. 

" You have no business there, sir. Come back ! " 

It was the peremptory command of General Tyler ordering us to 
the rear. I do not regard it as an act of bravery or bravado on my 
part in advancing so far; it was simply the overmastering of desire 
to personally know what was going on, that I might make a truthful 
record for the public. I was not alone in my eagerness. Several of 
the correspondents were brave almost to recklessness during many of the 
great battles of the war. It is true that others were content to gather 
up rumours and stories of the soldiers, and write detailed accounts of 
• battles which they did not see. 

Obeying the command, I returned to the deserted farmhouse, where 
General Tyler had established his headquarters. An ambulance came 
up the slope, bringing a soldier of the Massachusetts First with a 
mangled leg; the bones crushed, the flesh hanging in shreds, the 
soldier screaming in agony. It was my first sight of a wounded man. 
The horror of the sight unnerved me. Involuntarily I exclaimed, " If 
this is war, let it stop right here. Let the Southern States go. Let 
them set up their Confederacy. Anything rather than this ! " It was 
but for a moment, and it was the only moment through the four years' 
conflict that my heart faltered. Then came a second reflection. 
Justice, righteousness, and liberty are eternal verities. Our fathers 
fought eight years to establish liberty. Their cause was just; every- 



BULL RUN". 45 

thing they fought for is at stake ; and the war must go on till the 
last rebel has been subdued. As the lightning's flash illumines 
the landscape at midnight, so at the sight of that soldier, with life 
ebbing away, and his prayer to God for mercy ringing in my ears, I 
saw the greatness of the contest; that behind all the anguish, suffer- 
ing and rending of hearts was the future destiny of the nation, the 
welfare of millions who are to succeed us. 

It did not take General Tyler long to discover he was sacrificing his 
men to no purpose, and an aid galloped down the hill with an order 
for the troops to return. His second line, in which was the Sixty- 
ninth New York Regiment, was composed mainly of Irishmen. Very 
characteristic and laughable was the scene as the returning troops 
came back. In the confusion and excitement, the men, thinking the 
Confederates were upon them, prepared for the encounter. I saw a 
sturdy soldier, with resolution in his face, dash his gun to the ground, 
strip off his coat, spit on his hands, double up his fists, and firmly plant 
himself to knock down the enemy with a blow between the eyes. 

The First Massachusetts received the hottest of the fire. One soldier 
in the thickest of the fight was shot; he passed his musket to his 
comrade, saying, " It is all right, Bill," and immediately expired. The 
soldier standing next to Lieutenant - Colonel Wells received two shots in 
his arm. He handed his gun to the colonel, saying, " Here, I can't use 
it ; take it and use it." A great many of the soldiers had their clothes 
shot through. One had three balls in his coat, but came out unharmed. 

I do not know just how I reached Washington, as I had not at that 
period of the war a horse, but the eager public must have the news, 
and I hastened to the capital, twenty miles distant, and then, on 
Sunday morning, was once more in Centerville. The day was calm 
and peaceful. Saturday had been passed at Centerville by McDowell's 
army. The advance of Tyler to Blackburn's Ford had revealed the 
topographical features of the country, and the position of Beauregard's 
army. It was seen that a flank movement must be made if he would 
gain the southern bank of the stream. He had about twenty-eight 
thousand men, with forty - nine cannon. His army consisted of five 
divisions, commanded by Generals Tyler, Hunter, Heintzelman, Miles 
and Bunyan. On the afternoon of Friday, while Tyler was recon- 
noitering at Blackman's Ford, a dispatch from Richmond was flashed 
to Johnston in the Shenandoah Valley : 

" Beauregard attacked. Go to his assistance." 



46 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Through Friday night, Saturday, Saturday night and Sunday morn- 
ing the troops of Johnston were marching seventeen miles to Piedmont, 
entering cars and speeding towards Manassas nine thousand men and 
twenty cannon, swelling the Confederate force to thirty-two thousand, 
with fifty -seven cannon. The troops of Johnston, as they arrived, 
together with those of Beauregard, were distributed along the fords 
fronting Centerville. Anticipating an attack from that direction, 
General McDowell's first plan was to cross the stream at one of the 
fords, but changed it to a movement which would turn the left flank of 
the Confederates. Leaving Richardson's brigade to make a demon- 
stration at Blackburn's Ford, directing Tyler, with the remainder of his 
division, to march directly down the Warrenton turnpike to Stone 
Bridge, leaving Miles to hold Centerville, he made a long detour with 
Hunter's and Heintzelman's divisions to Sudley's Mills. They were to 
cross Bull Run. As soon as the flank of the Confederates was turned, 
the troops at Stone Bridge were to cross, and the united force was to 
press forward, which would compel Beauregard and Johnston to change 
front. It was two o'clock in the morning when Tyler's troops folded 
their blankets and made ready to advance to Stone Bridge. A mistake 
had been made at the outset. Hunter and Heintzelman, having much 
farther to march, should have started first, but were compelled to wait 
till Tyler was out of the way. The flanking troops ought to have been 
at Sudley's ford at sunrise, whereas it was past nine o'clock when the 
Rhode Island troops, leading the column, reached the stream. The 
soldiers filled their canteens, ate a portion of their rations, and then 
moved on. 

We now know that Johnston and Beauregard had planned to cross 
the stream, get between McDowell and Washington, and attack him 
by a surprise. Messengers, at half - past five in the morning, were 
carrying orders to the various commands, when the peaceful stillness 
of the dawning day was broken by the boom of a Union cannon of 
Ayer's battery, on the Warrenton turnpike, east of Stone Bridge. The 
second shot passed through the tent of Captain Alexander of General 
Beauregard's staff. A moment later the guns of Richardson were 
thundering at Blackburn's Ford. Other messengers rode in hot haste, 
countermanding previous orders. Not till mid-forenoon did I hear 
the first note of battle from Hunter's and Heintzelman's commands. 
I first visited Richardson's position, saw once more the Confederates 
in line of battle upon the farther bank of the stream,- returned to 



BULL RUN. 



47 



Centerville, when I saw the members of a New York battery deliber- 
ately leaving their guns and starting for Washington, their three 
months' term of service having expired. By the roadside, partaking of 
a sumptuous luncheon of cold beef, ham, bread, sauces, beer, and 
cheese, sat William H. Russell, correspondent of the London Times, 
who had won fame by his let- 
ters from the Crimea. It' was, I 
think, his nearest approach to 
the battle of Bull Run. 

It was considerably past noon 
when I reached the troops by 
Stone Bridge. From an elevated 
position I had a fair view of 
the battle as it was being waged 
by Hunter and Heintzelman, who 
were forcing the Confederates to 
retire across the Warrenton turn- 
pike. It was a little past three 
o'clock when I climbed to the 
roof of a deserted house near 
the Stone Bridge, which the Con- 
federates had destroyed. Colonel 
Alexander of the engineers in- 
formed me that all was going 
well across the river. From 
that elevated position I had 
an excellent view of the battle-field. I could see stragglers in the 
rear of the Confederate lines, moving towards Manassas. 

A correspondent of the Charleston Mercury thus writes of the aspect 
of affairs in the rebel lines at that moment : 

" When I entered the field at two o'clock the fortunes of the day were 
dark. The regiments so badly injured, or wounded and worn, as they 
staggered out, gave gloomy pictures of the scene. We could not be 
routed, perhaps, but it is doubtful whether we were destined to a 
victory." 

I could see a dust cloud partly in the rear and beyond the Union line 
of battle in the west. I did not then know the meaning of it — that 
it was caused by the advance of Confederate troops, a brigade under 
E. Kirby Smith, the last of Johnston's army from the Shenandoah. 




MAJOR-GENERAL CHAS. GRIFFIN. 






48 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



They had left the cars at the Warrenton turnpike, and were hastening 
towards the battle. 

It was at this juncture that two batteries, one commanded by Captain 
Griffin and the other by Captain Ricketts, both of whom afterwards 
became major-generals, were ordered to cross the Warrenton turnpike 

and open fire upon the Confed- 
erates, who were rallying along 
the edge of a dense pine thicket, 
where Colonel Thomas P. Jack- 
son had made a stand, declaring 
that he intended to remain there 
" like a stonewall." 

General McDowell had com- 
mitted a grave error in ordering 
the batteries to cross Young's 
Branch in advance of the infan- 
try. Ricketts did not like the 
order, but obeyed the command. 
Griffin also objected to the posi- 
tion assigned him by Major 
Barry, commanding the artil- 
lery, saying he had no infantry 
supports. 

Barry informed him that the 
Zouaves would support him ; also 
the Fourteenth Regiment of New 
York Volunteer's, which had gone into a piece of woods. 

We have arrived at a turning-point in the history of the country. 
Griffin and Ricketts saw a line of men in gray advance on their right 
flank. 

" They are rebels," said Griffin. 

" No, it is the Fourteenth, they wear a gray uniform," said Barry. 
" Sure as the world, they are rebels," said Griffin. 
" I tell you they are your supports." 

Griffin wheels his guns and opens fire upon the Confederates by 
Mrs. Henry's house. The men in gray on his flank advance, come to a 
halt, bring their guns to a level, and fire a volley. Men and horses 
go down. The Zouaves, in rear of the batteries, behold the spec- 
tacle in amazement, then break and stream over the field, a few only 




MAJOR-GENERAL JAMES B. RICKETTS 



BULL RUN. 



49 



giving a parting shot. It is the beginning of a panic. For a short 
time the contest goes on, but the Union army has lost its aggressive 
energy and begins to melt away. 




"WHO WOULD LISTEN FOR FOOTSTEPS THAT NEVERMORE WOULD COME." 



I had descended from the roof of the house, and was drinking at a 
spring near the turnpike, when I heard a sudden uproar. Soldiers 
streamed past, throwing away their guns and equipments. Ayer's 



50 THE BOYS OF '61. 

battery dashed down the turnpike. A baggage wagon was hurled into 
the ditch in a twinkling. A hack from Washington, which had brought 
out a party of Congressmen, was splintered to kindlings. Drivers cut 
their horses loose and fled in precipitate haste. Instinct is quick to act. 
There was no time to deliberate, or to obtain information. A swift pace 
for a half - mile placed me beyond Cub Run, where, standing on a knoll, 
I had a good opportunity to survey the sight, painful, yet ludicrous to 
behold. The soldiers, as they crossed the stream, regained their 
composure and fell into a walk. But the panic, like a wave, rolled 
over Centerville to Fairfax. The teamsters of the immense wagon 
train threw bags of coffee and corn, barrels of beef and pork, and 
boxes of bread upon the ground, and fled in terror towards Alexan- 
dria. The fright was soon over. The lines at Centerville were in 
tolerable order when I left that place at five o'clock. 

There is abundant evidence to show that the Confederates considered 
the battle as lost up to the time of the arrival of E. Kirby Smith. Not 
till I began to make a record of the names of the killed and wounded did 
I comprehend that my despatch to the paper I represented would bring 
inexpressible sorrow to the hearts of fathers, mothers, wives, and sisters 
in far - off homes. I thought of wives who would listen for footsteps 
that nevermore would come, for voices that were silent evermore. All 
the glamour of war was gone. With many a pang I gave the list of the 
dead to the telegraph operator, knowing that, on the morrow, it would 
sadden thousands of homes. There is little doubt that the army could 
have held its ground at Centerville, but, as the term of many of the 
regiments was expiring, the authorities deemed it better to fall back 
to Arlington Heights and begin anew. 

The first reports of the battle had been wholly favourable to the Union 
cause. The newspapers on Monday morning had heralded a prospective 
victory. On Monday afternoon the country was astounded by the unwel- 
come news. 







CHAPTER III. 

PREPARING FOR THE GREAT STRUGGLE. 

THE battle of Bull Run awakened the people of the Northern States 
to a sense of the magnitude of the conflict before them — that 
military service was to be no holiday affair ; that, if they would preserve 
the Government established by their fathers, they must put forth all 
their energies. It set men to thinking. Four days after the battle, in 
Washington, I met one who all his lifetime had been a Democrat, stand- 
ing stanchly by the South till the attack on Sumter. Said he : " I go 
for liberating the niggers. We are fighting on a false issue. The 
negro is at the bottom of the trouble. The South is fighting for the 
negro, and nothing else. They use him to defeat us, and we shall be 
compelled to use him to defeat them." 

These sentiments were gaining ground. General Butler had retained 
the negroes who came into his camp, calling them " contraband of war." 
Men were beginning to discuss the propriety of not only retaining, but 
of seizing, the slaves of those who were in arms against the Govern- 
ment. The rebels were using them in the construction of fortifications. 
Why not place them in the category with gunpowder, horses, and cattle ? 

It was clear that, sooner or later, the war would become one of eman- 
cipation, — freedom to the slave of every man found in arms against 
the Government, or in any way aiding or abetting treason, How seduc- 
tive, how tyrannical, was slavery ! v* 

Three years before the war, a young man, born and eaubftted among 
the mountains of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, graduating at Wil- 
liams College, visited Washington, and called upon Mr. Dawes, member 
of Congress from Massachusetts, to obtain his influence in securing a 
position at the South as a teacher. Mr. Dawes knew the young man, 
son of a citizen of high standing, respected not only as a citizen, but in 
the highest branch of the Legislature of the State in former times, and 
gladly gave his influence to obtain the situation. A few days after the 
battle Mr. Dawes visited the Old Capitol Prison to see the prisoners 

51 



52 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



who had been brought in. To his surprise he found among them the 
young man from Berkshire, wearing the uniform of a rebel. 

" How could you find it in your heart to fight against the flag of your 
country, to turn your back upon your native State, and the institutions 
under which you have been trained ? " he asked. 

" I did n't want to fight against the flag, but I was compelled to." 

" How compelled ?" 




OLD CAPITOL PRISON, WASHINGTON, D. C. 

" Why, you see, they knew I was from the North ; and if 1 had n't 
enlisted the ladies would have presented me with a petticoat." 

He expressed himself averse to taking the oath of allegiance. It was 
only when allusion was made to his parents — the poignant grief which 
would all but break his mother's heart, were she to hear of him as a 
soldier in the traitors' lines, — that he gave way, and his eyes filled 
with tears. He could turn against his country, his State, the institu- 
tions of freedom, because his heart was in the South, because he had 
dreaded the finger of scorn which would have cowed him with a petti- 
coat, but he could not blot out the influence of a mother's love, a 
mother's patriotism. He had not lived long enough under the hot 



PREPARING FOR THE GREAT STRUGGLE. 



53 




MAJOR-GENERAL GEO. B. McCLELLAN. 

breath of the simoon to have all the early associations withered and 
crisped. The mention of f< mother " made him a child again. 

The week following the battle of Bull Run i General McClellan was 
summoned from West Virginia to Washington to organize the troops 



54 THE BOYS OF '61. 

arriving at the capital. He selected a spacious mansion for his head- 
quarters and appointed a numerous staff. A few days later I was 
requested by a gentleman, connected in some way with the staff, to be_ 
at Willard's Hotel the next evening at five o'clock, as the commander- 
in-chief desired to meet the correspondents of the press. The jour- 
nalists filled two large omnibuses. We were driven to McClellan's 
headquarters, and were ushered into a spacious parlour. The commander- 
in-chief, accompanied by his father-in-law, General Marcy, entered 
the apartment. He said he desired to meet the representatives of the 
press for a brief interview. We held positions of great influence and 
were capable of doing great good or harm to the country. He would 
be glad to extend to us gentlemen every possible facility for obtaining 
information, but he particularly desired us not to mention in our 
despatches or letters the arrival of regiments or any movement of the 
army. 

It was a reasonable request ; but it was not from the members of the 
press or the perusal of Northern newspapers that Jefferson Davis every 
evening had reliable and accurate information of the augmentation of 
troops in and around Washington, but from his own spies and agents in 
the governmental departments, who secretly maintained daily communi- 
cation with Richmond via Port Tobacco in Maryland. 

After the brief address we were generally introduced. The news- 
papers of the North the following morning, and through succeeding 
days, contained accounts of the interviews between General McClellan 
and the members of the press, with detailed descriptions of his personal 
appearance. One correspondent said he was a close-built, compact man, 
reminding one of Napoleon. The newspapers took it up, as did the 
soldiers, and the commander - in - chief , with the bulletin from western 
Virginia fresh in the minds of the soldiers and the people, became the 
" Young Napoleon." 

The summer waned without any movement, except the marching of 
brigades, regiments, and divisions in review. McClellan informed 
General Scott that there were one hundred thousand Confederate 
soldiers at Manassas, and urged the sending of all available regiments 
to Washington regardless of other localities. He requested that the 
Northern States be merged into one department and placed under 
himself, and intimated to President Lincoln that General Scott ought to 
be retired. The venerable commander, the hero of Lundy's Lane, who 
entered the City of Mexico as conqueror, would not condescend to notice 



PREPARING FOR THE GREAT STRUGGLE. 



55 



a communication which he regarded as offensive, and asked to be retired 
from further official duties. 

The President, ever kind, called in person upon General Scott, 
endeavouring to induce him to withdraw his resignation. McClellan 
was subordinate to Scott, but made no report of his proceedings to 
his senior. 

" He is," wrote Scott, 
to the Secretary of War, 
" in frequent conversation 
with members of the Cab- 
inet in relation to myself. 
That freedom of access 
and consultations have, 
very naturally, deluded 
the junior into a feeling 
of indifference toward his 
senior. With such sup- 
ports on his part it would 
be idle for me, as it would 
be against the dignity of 
my years, to be filing- 
daily complaints against 
an ambitious junior." 

The request of the ven- 
erable commander was 
granted, and he was 
placed upon the retired 
list. 

It was a bright summer 
day, the last of August, 
when the President and 
Cabinet, in a body, called upon the venerable commander, to bid 
him official farewell. It was not only what he had accomplished in the 
last war with England and Mexico that made it a tender parting, but 
his sterling, unswerving patriotism and loyalty to the Union. He was 
a Virginian by birth. His instincts were those of the cavalier. His 
family friends were in sympathy with secession. His favourite and 
beloved subordinate, Robert E. Lee, had joined the Confederates. 
Every seductive influence possible had been brought to bear upon him ; 




GENERAL KOBT. E. LEE, C. S. A. 



56 THE BOYS OF '61. * 

that failing, the siren song had been changed to one of contumely, 
but, through it all, he had remained true to his oath, loyal to his country, 
not the State of Virginia, but the United States. 

After the battle of Bull Run the Confederates once more took posses- 
sion of Fairfax Court - house, and advanced from there to Munson's Hill, 
four miles from the Capitol. By ascending to its unfinished dome, I 
could see the line of yellow earthworks upon the hill with the Confed- 
erate flag waving defiantly above them. Confederate batteries rested 
on the Virginia side, in the vicinity of Acquia Creek, blockaded the 
Potomac, preventing the departure from the Washington Navy Yard of 
the frigate Minnesota. 

The audacious advance of the Confederates so near to Washington, 
the inactivity of McClellan towards dislodging them, produced a mur- 
muring on the part of those ardent for a vigourous prosecution of the 
war. 

On a September day, riding with a fellow correspondent across Long 
Bridge, we found General Richardson, commander of a division, mount- 
ing his horse for an inspection of the picket-line. Accepting his invita- 
tion, we rode to a corn-field, dismounted, passed the pickets, crept 
between the corn ears, so near the Confederate pickets that we could 
hear their conversation. We obtained a fair view of the Confederate 
entrenchments. Returning silently within our own picket-lines, General 
Richardson gave vent to his indignation. 

" Here we are seventy thousand men within one hour's march of that 
hill, where there are not over four thousand Confederates, whose nearest 
supports are at Fairfax Court-house. We could wipe them out in a 
twinkling, and yet I am ordered to make no demonstration, and, if 
attacked, to fall back under the guns of the fortifications along Arling- 
ton Heights. 

The stalwart commander made use of some expletives in connection 
with the sentence. It was the first outspoken sentiment I had heard 
against the policy of the newly created commander-in-chief. 

On the afternoon of October 22d, information reached me of a move- 
ment up the Potomac in the vicinity of Poolsville. Accompanied by a 
fellow correspondent I hastened to McClellan's headquarters. We found 
President Lincoln seated in the anteroom. 

I had met him on several occasions, and he was well acquainted with 
my friend. He greeted us cordially, but sat down quickly, rested his 
head upon his hand, and seemed to be unusually agitated. His eyes 



PREPARING FOR THE GREAT STRUGGLE. 



57 



were sunken, his countenance haggard, his whole demeanour that of one 
who was in trouble. 

" Will you please step in here, Mr. President," said an orderly from an 
adjoining room, from whence came the click of the telegraph. He soon 
came out, with his hands clasped upon his breast, his head bowed, his 
body bent as if he were carrying a great burden. He took no notice of 




PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 



any one, but, with downcast eyes and faltering steps, passed into the street 
and towards the Executive mansion. 

" We have met with a sad disaster. Fifteen hundred men lost, and 
Colonel Baker killed," said General Marcy. 

It was that which had overwhelmed the President. Colonel Baker 
was his personal friend. They had long been intimately acquainted. 
In speaking of that event afterwards, Mr. Lincoln said that it smote him 
like a whirlwind in a desert. 



58 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Mounting our horses we hastened to Poolsville. The night was cold. 
There had been a heavy fall of rain, and the ground was miry. It was 
a sad spectacle, those half -naked, shivering soldiers, who had lost 
everything, clothes, equipments, and arms. They were almost heart- 
broken at the disaster. 

" I enlisted to fight," said one, " but I don't want to be slaughtered. 
my God ! shall I ever forget that sight, when the boat went down ? " 
He covered his face with his hands, as if to shut out the horrid 
spectacle. 

Colonel Baker was sent across the river with the Fifteenth and 
Twentieth Massachusetts, a portion of the Tammany Regiment of New 
York, and the California regiment, Colonel Baker's own, in all about 
fifteen hundred men. His means of communication were only an old 
scow and two small boats. He was left to fight unassisted four thou- 
sand rebels. Soon after he fell, there was a sudden rush to the boats, 
which, being overloaded, were instantly swamped. The rebels had it 
all their own way, standing upon the bank and shooting the drown- 
ing men. Colonel Baker's body had been brought off, and was being 
prepared for burial by my friend, George A. Brackett, of Minneapolis. 

We found accommodations at the best private residence in the place. 
The owner had a number of outlying farms, and was reported to be very 
wealthy. He was courteous, and professed to be a Union man. He was 
disposing of his hay and grain to the United States Government, receiv- 
ing the highest prices at his own door. Yet, when conversing with him, 
he said, " Your army," " Your troops," as if he were a foreigner. A 
funeral procession passed the house, — a company of the Massachusetts 
Fifteenth, bearing to the village graveyard a comrade, who had laid 
down his life for his country at Ball's Bluff. Said the wife of my host 
to a friend as they passed : " Their Government has got money enough, 
and ought to take the bodies away ; we don't want them buried here ; it 
will make the place unhealthy." These expressions revealed one thing, 
that between them and the Federal Union and the Constitution there 
was no bond of unity. There was no nationality binding us together. 
Once they would not have spoken of the army of the United States as 
" your army." What had caused this alienation ? Slavery. An ebony- 
hued chattel kindled my fire in the morning and blacked my boots. 
A yellow chattel stood behind my chair at breakfast. A stout chattel, 
worth twelve hundred dollars, groomed my horse. There were a dozen 
young chattels at play upon the piazza. My host was an owner of 



PREPARING FOR THE GREAT STRUGGLE. 



59 



human flesh and blood. That made him at heart a Secessionist. The 
army had not interfered with slavery. Slaves found their way into the 
camp daily, and were promptly returned to their professedly loyal 




HUMAN CHATTELS. 



masters. Yet the presence of the troops was odious to the slave- 
holders. 

In the quiet of affairs around Washington I visited eastern Maryland, 
accompanied by two members of the press. The Confederates had 
closed the navigation of the Potomac by erecting batteries at Cockpit 
Point. General Hooker's division was at Budd's Ferry, Port Tobacco, 



60 THE BOYS OF '61. 

and other places down the river. It was the last day of October, — one 
of the loveliest of the year, — when we started upon our excursion. 

No description can convey an idea of the incomparable loveliness of 
the scenery, — the broad river, with the slow -moving sail boats, the 
glassy, unruffled surface, reflecting canvas, masts, and cordage, the 
many -colored hills, rich with autumnal tints, the marble piles of the 
city, the broad streets, the more distant Georgetown, the thousands of 
white tents near and far away, with all the nice shading and blending of 
varied hue in the mellow light. On every hilltop we lingered to enjoy 
the richness of nature, and to fix in memory the picture which, under 
the relentless hand of war, would soon be robbed of its peculiar charms. 

Ten miles out and all was changed. The neat, tasteful, comfortable 
residences were succeeded by the most dilapidated dwellings. The fields, 
green with verdure, gave place to sandy barrens. To say that every- 
body and everything were out at the elbows and down at the heels is 
not sufficient. One must see the old buildings, — the crazy roofs, the 
unglazed windows, the hingeless doors, the rotting stoops, the reeling 
barns and sheds, leaning in every direction, as if all were in drunken 
carousal, — the broken fences, the surrounding lumber, — of carts, 
wagons, and used-up carriages, to obtain a correct idea of this 
picture, so strongly and painfully in contrast to that from the hilltops 
overlooking the capital of the country. 

The first stopping-place for travellers is the " White Horse." We 
had heard much of the White Horse, and somehow had great expecta- 
tions, or rather an undefined notion, that Clark Mills or some other 
artist had sculptured from white marble a steed balanced on his hind 
legs and leaping toward the moon, like that in front of the Presidential 
mansion ; but our great expectations dwindled like Pip's, when we 
descended a hill and came upon a whitewashed, one-story building, — a 
log -house, uninviting to man or beast. A poplar in front of the domi- 
cile supported a swinging sign, on which the country artist had displayed 
his marvellous skill in painting a white horse standing on two legs. It 
was time for dinner, and the landlady spread the table for her guests. 
There was no gold-tinted bill of fare, with unpronounceable French 
ohrases, no long line of sable waiters in white aprons. My memory 
series me as to the fare, Pork, Pone, Potatoes. 

The port was cold, also pone and potatoes. Pone is unraised corn- 
cake, baked in the ashes, and said to be good for indigestion, — a favour- 
ite cake in tl*e South. 



PREPARING FOR THE GREAT STRUGGLE. 61 

A saffron-hued young man, — tall and lean, with a sharp nose and 
thin face, sat on the steps of the White Horse. 

"The ager got hold of me yesterday and shook me right smart," he 
said. " It is a bad place for the ager. The people that used to live 
here have all moved away. The land is run out. They have terbak- 
kered it to death. We can't raise nothing, and it ain't no use to try." 
He pointed to a deserted farmhouse standing on a hill, and said, 
" There 's a place the owner has left to grow up to weeds. He can't get 
nobody to carry it on." 

A stately brick mansion, standing back from the highway, once 
the residence of a man of wealth and taste, with blinds, portico, and 
carriage - house, elaborate in design and finish, was in the last stages 
of ruin. The portico had settled away from the house. The roof 
was hollowed like a weak -backed horse, the chimneys were tumbling, 
blinds swinging by a hinge, windows smashed, outhouses tottering 
with age and neglect, all presenting a most repulsive appearance. 
How changed from former years, when the courteous, hospitable 
proprietor of the estate received his guests at the magnificent portico, 
ushered them to his spacious halls, opened the sideboard and drank 
to their health, while attendant slaves took the horses to the stables! 
It is easy to fill up the picture, — the grand dinner, the walk over 
the estate, the stroll by the river, the duck - shooting on the marshes, 
the gang of slaves in the tobacco - patch, the army of black and yellow 
servants in the kitchens, chambers, and parlours. When this old house 
was in its glory, this section of Maryland was in its prime ; but 
how great the change ! 

It was sad to think of the departed days. Our reflections were 
of what the place had been, what it was, and what it might have 
been, had Maryland, in the beginning of her history, accepted freedom 
instead of slavery. 

Taverns were not to be found in the vicinity of Pamunkey, and 
it was necessary that we should seek private hospitality for the 
night. A first attempt for accommodations brought us to a house, 
but the owner had no oats, hay, or corn ; a second ride in from 
the highway brought us to a whitewashed farmhouse, with immense 
outside chimneys, piazza, adjoining mud - chinked negro quarters, with 
chimneys of sticks and clay, and a dozen surrounding buildings, — 
as usual, all tumbling to pieces. Explanations as to who we were 
secured kind hospitality from the host, a gray - headed man, with 



62 THE BOYS OF '61. 

a family consisting of his wife, three grown-up sons, and nine 
adult daughters. 

" Such as I have is at your service, gentlemen,''' said our courteous 
host. But he had no hay, no oats, no corn, nothing but shucks 
for our horses. Our supper consisted of fried pork, fried salt shad, 
pone, wheat -cakes, pea -coffee, strawberry -leaf tea, sweetened with 
damp brown sugar. 

" We don't raise butter in this section of the State," said our host, 
in apology. 

The supper was relished after an afternoon ride of thirty miles. 
The evening being chilly, a roaring fire was kept up in the old-fashioned 
fireplace. The daughters put on their most attractive attire, and 
left nothing untried to entertain their three visitors. Could we dance ? 
Unfortunately we could not. It was a serious disappointment. They 
evidently had anticipated having "a good time." One of the ladies 
could play a violin, and treated us to jigs, reels, and hornpipes. 

" You must sing the gentlemen a song, Jane," said one. 

Jane turned scarlet at the suggestion, but finally, after polite requests 
and a little urging, turned her back to the company, faced the corner 
of the room, and sang a love song. She could sing " Dixie," but knew 
nothing of the " Star Spangled Banner " or " Hail Columbia." The 
young ladies were in sympathy with the Rebellion. 

" It must be expected that Southern people should sympathise with 
the South," said our host. 

" You own some slaves ? " I said. 

" I have three servants, sir. I think," he added, " that the people 
of eastern Maryland would be more favourable towards the Union 
if they could be assured that the war would not finally become 
one of emancipation. My neighbour over there had a servant who 
ran away into the camp of one of the New York regiments. He 
went after him. The colonel told the master to take him, but 
the servant would n't leave till the colonel drew his pistol and 
threatened to shoot him. But notwithstanding that, I reckon that 
the war will make them restless." It was spoken frankly and 
unreservedly. 

It was pitiable to walk round his farm in the morning, to see 
everywhere the last stages of decay, — poor, worn - out lands, broken- 
down fences, weedyuelds, pastures without a blade of grass, leafless 
orchards, old buildings, — everything a wreck ; and yet to know 



PREPARING FOR THE GREAT STRUGGLE. 



63 



that he was wedded to the very institution which was reducing- 
the country to a wilderness. He was not an owner of the estate, 




LAZY I.IKE ALL THE REST. 



but a rentee. He paid one hundred and fifty dollars rental for 

'iimdred acres of land, and yet confessed that he was growing 

year by year. Tobacco, corn, and oats were the only crops. 



64 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



He could get no manure. He could make no hay. He kept two 
cows, but made no butter. The land was being exhausted, and he 
did not know what he should come to. All energy and life were 
gone; we saw only a family struggling against fate, and yet clinging 
with a death-grapple to the system that was precipitating their ruin. 
" Why do you not go to Illinois ? " 
" Oh, sir, I am too old to move. Besides, this is home." 
We pictured the boundless resources of the West, the fertile lands, 
the opportunities for bettering his condition, but our words fell 
upon an inert mind. As a last argument, we said: "You have a 




HELPING HIMSELF TO A TURKEY. 



large family of daughters. In Illinois there are thousands of young 
men wanting wives, who will make good husbands. There are few 
young men here, but good homes await your daughters there." 

There were blushes, smiles, and sparkling eyes from the " sacred 
nine." My fellow correspondent of the Chicago Tribune then drew 
a florid picture of the West, — of the need of the State for such 
good-looking, virtuous ladies. His eloquence was persuasive. One 
of the daughters wanted to know how far it was to Illinois ; but, 
when informed that it was a thousand miles, her countenance fell. 
Bliss so far away, was unattainable. 

We passed a second night with our host, who, during our absence, 
sent one of the servants a dozen miles to obtain some butter, so 
courteous an entert*£her was he. Yet he was struggling with poverty. 
He kept three slaves to wait upon his nine grown-up unmarried 



PKEPARING FOR THE GREAT STRUGGLE. 



Q5 



daughters, who were looking out upon a dark future. There was 
not a single gleam of light before them. They could not work, 




"A NEGRO SLAVE CAME INTO THE LINES.' 



or, at the best, their work was of trifling account. What would 
become of them ? That was the one question ever haunting the 
father. 



66 THE BOYS OF '61. 

" Why do you keep your slaves ? they are a bill of cost to you 
every year," we said. 

" I know it. They are lazy, shiftless, and they will steal, not- 
withstanding they have enough to eat and wear ; but then, I 
reckon I could n't get along without them very well. Sam is an 
excellent groom, and Joe is a good ploughman. He can do any- 
thing if he has a mind to ; but he is lazy, like all the rest. I 
reckon that I could n't get along without him, though." 

" Your sons can groom your horses and do your ploughing." 

" Yes ; but then, they like to fish and hunt, you know ; and you 
can't expect them to do the work of the servants." 

The secret was out. Slavery made labour dishonourable. 

Conversing with another farmer about the negroes, he said : " They 
steal all they can lay their hands on ; and since the Yankee troops 
have been in camp round here, they are ten times as bad as they used 
to be. My chickens and turkeys are fast disappearing. The officers 
buy them, I reckon." 

We thought it quite likely ; for, having passed several days in General 
Hooker's division, we could bear testimony to the excellent fare of the 
officers' mess, — chickens served in all the various forms known to 
culinary art. It was convenient for officers thus to supply themselves 
with poultry. Of course the slave would say that he was the lawful 
owner of the poultry. Why should he have any compunctions of 
conscience about disposing of the chickens roosting on his master's 
apple-trees, when his labour, his life, his happiness, his children, — 
all his rights were stolen from him by his master? If the sword cut 
in one direction, why not in another ? 

Possibly, some of the soldiers had no scruples over helping them- 
selves to a plump turkey on a moonlit night ; it would be more tooth- 
some than salt junk. 

Not only at church, but in the army, the spirit of slavery was 
rampant. The Hutchinson family visited Washington. They solic- 
ited permission from the Secretary of War, Mr. Cameron, to visit 
the camps in Virginia and sing songs to the soldiers, to relieve the 
tedious monotony of camp life. Their request was granted, and their 
intentions cordially commended by the Secretary; and, being thus 
indorsed, received General McClellan's pass. Their songs have ever 
been of freedom. They were welcomed by the soldiers. But there 
were officers in the service who believed in slavery, who had been 



PREPARING FOR THE GREAT STRUGGLE. 



67 



taught in Northern pulpits that it was a divinely appointed, benefi- 
cent institution of Almighty God. Information was given to General 
McClellan that the Hutchinsons were poisoning the minds of the 
troops by singing abolition songs ; and their career as free concert 
givers to the patriotic soldiers was suddenly ended by the following 
order from headquarters : 




DISCOURAGED. 



" By direction of Major-General McClellan, the permit given to the 
Hutchinson family to sing in the camps, and their pass to cross the 
Potomac, are revoked, and they will not be allowed to sing to the troops." 

Far from the noise and strife of war, on the banks of the Merrimac, 
lived the poet of peace and freedom, whose songs against oppression 
and wrong have sunk deep into the hearts of the people. Whittier 
heard of the expulsion of the Hutchinsons, and wrote the — 



68 THE BOYS OF '61. 

« EIN FESTE BURG 1ST UNSER GOTT." 

" We wait beneath the furnace-blast 
The pangs of transformation ; 
Not painlessly doth God recast 
And mould anew the nation. 
Hot burns the fire 
Where wrongs expire ; 
Nor spares the hand 
That from the land 
Uproots the ancient evil." 

The expulsion of the Hutchinsons, with Whittier's ringing words, 
stirred people's thoughts. A change was gradually taking place in 
men's opinions. The negroes were beginning to show themselves 
useful. A detachment of the Thirteenth Massachusetts, commanded 
by Major Gould, was stationed on the upper Potomac. A negro 
slave, belonging in Winchester, came into the lines. He was intel- 
ligent, cautious, shrewd, and loyal. Major Gould did not return him 
to his master, but asked him if he would go back and ascertain the 
whereabouts of Stonewall Jackson. The negro readily assented. He 
was supplied with packages of medicine, needles, thread, and other 
light articles greatly needed in the South. With these he easily 
passed the Confederate pickets. " Been out to get 'em for massa," 
was his answer when questioned. Thus he repeatedly passed lines, 
obtaining information which was transmitted to Washington. 

He had great influence with the slaves. 

" They are becoming restless," said he, " but I tells 'em that they 
must be quiet. I says to 'em, keep yer eyes wide open and pray for 
de good time comin'. I tells 'em if de Souf whip, it is all night wid 
yer ; but if de Norf whip, it is all day wid yer." 

" Do they believe it," Major Gould asked. 

" Yes, massa, all believe it. The black men am all wid yer, only 
some of 'em is n't berry well informed ; but dey is all wid yer. Massa 
tinks dey is n't wid yer, but dey is." 

How sublime the picture ! — - a slave counselling his fellow bonds- 
men to keep quiet and wait till God should give them deliverance ? 

Slavery was strongly entrenched in the capital of the nation. Congress 
had abolished it in the District of Columbia, but it still remained. 

Said a friend to me one morning, " Are you aware that the Washing- 
ton jail is full of slaves ? " I could not believe that slaves were then 



PREPARING FOR THE GREAT STRUGGLE. 71 

confined there for no crime, but at once procured a pass from a Senator 
to visit the jail, and was admitted through the iron gateway of one of the 
vilest prisons in the world. The air was stifled, fetid and malarious. 

Ascending the stone stairway to the third story of the building, enter- 
ing a dark corridor and passing along a few steps, I came to a room 
twelve or fifteen feet square, occupied by about twenty coloured men. 
They were at their dinner of boiled beef and corn - cake. There was 
one old man silent and sorrowful. He had committed no crime. 
There were others, of all shades of colour, from jet-black to the 
Caucasian hue, the Anglo-Saxon hair and contour of features. They 
were from ten to fifty years of age ; some were dressed decently, and 
others were in rags. One bright fellow of twenty had on a pair of 
trousers only, and tried to keep himself warm by drawing around him 
a tattered blanket. A little fellow ten years old was all in rags. 
There was no chair or bed in the room. They must stand, or sit, or 
lie upon the brick and granite floor. There was no mattress or 
bedding; each had his little bundle of rags, and that was all. They 
looked up inquiringly as I entered, as if to make out the object of my 
visit. 

One bright, intelligent boy belonged to Captain Dunnington, captain 
of the Capitol police during Buchanan's administration, and then 
commanding a Confederate battery.. When Dunnington went from 
Washington to join the Secessionists he left the boy behind, and the 
police had arrested him under an old Maryland law, because he had 
no master, and kept him in jail five months. 

There was an old man from Fairfax Court-house. When the army 
advanced to Falls Church, his master sold his wife and child, for fear 
they might escape. " You see, sir, that broke me all up. Oh, sir, it was 
hard to part with them, to see 'em chained up and taken off away down 
South to Carolina ! My mind is almost gone. I don't want to die 
here ; I sha' n't live long. When your army fell back to Washington 
after the battle of Bull Run, I came to Washington, and the police took 
me up because I was a runaway." 

There was another, a free negro, imprisoned on the supposition that 
he was a fugitive, and kept because there was no one to pay his jail 
fees. Another had been a hand on a Massachusetts schooner plying on 
the Potomac, and had been arrested in the streets on the suspicion that 
he was a slave. 

Another had been employed on the fortifications, and Government 



72 THE BOYS OF '61. 

was his debtor. There was a little boy, ten years old, clothed in rags, 
arrested as a runaway. Women were there, sent in by their owners for 
safe - keeping. There were about sixty chargeable with no crime what- 
ever, incarcerated with felons without hope of deliverance. They were 
imprisoned because negroes about town, without a master, always had 
been dealt with in that manner. The police, when the slaves had been 
reclaimed, had been sure of their pay, or if they were sold, their pay 
came from the auctioneer. When they saw me making notes, they 
imagined that I was doing something for their liberation, and with 
eagerness they crowded round, saying, " Please put down my name, sir," 
" I do want to get out, sir," and similar expressions. They followed me 
into the passage, gazed through the grated door, and when I said " Good- 
by, boys," there came a chorus of " Good-bys" and " God bless yous. " 

Seeking Senator Wilson's room, I informed him of what I had wit- 
nessed, and read the memoranda taken in the jail. The eyes of that 
true-hearted man flashed with righteous indignation. " We will see 
about this," said he, springing to his feet. I accompanied him to the 
jail. He saw the loathsome spectacle, heard the stories of the poor 
creatures, and the next day introduced a resolution into the Senate, 
which upset forever this system of tyranny in the District of Columbia, 
which had been protected by the national authority. 

October passed. In November the sun shone from a cloudless sky. 
The roads were in excellent condition ; yet the army did not move. 
General McClellan was not ready. He had had many reviews. Every 
day beheld him, accompanied by a brilliant staff and body-guard of 
cavalry, riding to some one of the many encampments. 

Port Royal had been captured by the navy, and Union troops were in 
Beaufort, the beautiful seaside resort of the inhabitants of Charleston. 

Hatteras inlet had also been opened, but the Army of the Potomac 
was impatiently waiting. December came, and the order was given to 
go into winter quarters. 

Seeing no prospect of any movement in December, I transferred my 
field of observation to the departments of the West. 



\ 



CHAPTER IV. 



AFFAIRS IN THE WEST. 



THE church bells of Louisville were ringing the new year, 1862, in 
as with the early morning we entered that city. There was little 
activity in the streets. The breaking out of the war had stopped busi- 
ness. The city, with a better location than Cincinnati, had had a slow 
growth. Cassius M. Clay gave the reason years ago. 

" Why," he asked, " does Louisville write on an hundred of her stores 
' To let,' while Cincinnati advertises ' Wanted ' ? There is but one 
answer, — slavery." Many of the houses were tenantless. The people 
lounged in the streets. Few had anything to do. Thousands of former 
residents were away, many with the Southern army, more with the 
Union. There was division of feeling. Lines were sharply drawn. A 
dozen loyal Kentuckians had been killed in a skirmish on Green River ; 
among them Captain Bacon, a prominent citizen of Frankfort. His 
body was at the Gait House. Loyal Kentuckians were feeling these 
blows. Their temper was rising ; they were being educated by such 
adversity to make a true estimate of Secession. Everything serves a 
purpose in this world. Our vision is too limited to understand much of 
the governmental providence of Him who notices the fall of a sparrow, 
and alike controls the destiny of nations ; but I could see, in the 
emphatic utterances of men upon the street, that revenge might make 
men patriotic who otherwise might remain lukewarm in their loyalty. 

A friend introduced a loyal Tennesseean, who was forced to flee from 
Nashville when the State seceded. The vigilance committee informed 
him that he must leave or take the consequences ; which meant, a 
suspension by the neck from the nearest tree. He was offensive 
because of his outspoken loyalty. He was severe in his denunciations 
of the Government, on account of its slowness to put down the Rebellion. 

" Sir," said he, " this Government is not going to put down the Rebel- 
lion, because it is n't in earnest. You of the North are white-livered. 
Excuse me for saying it. No ; I won't ask to be excused for speaking 

73 



7°4 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



the truth. You are afraid to touch the negro. You are afraid of 
Kentucky. The little province of the United States gets down on its 
knees to the nation of Kentucky. You are afraid that the State will 
go over to the rebels, if anything is done about the negro. Now, sir, 
I know what slavery is ; I have lived among it all my days. I know 
what Secession is, — it means slavery. I know what Kentucky is, — a 
proud old State, which has a great deal that is good about her and a 
great deal of sham. Kentucky politicians are no better or wiser than 

any other politicians. The State 
is living on the capital of Henry 
Clay. You think that the State 
is great because he was great. 
Oh, you Northern men are a 
brave set ! ( It was spoken with 
bitter sarcasm. ) You handle 
this Rebellion as gingerly as if 
it were a glass doll. Go on, go 
on ; you will get whipped. Buell 
will get whipped at Bowling 
Green, Butler will get whipped 
at New Orleans. You got 
whipped at Big Bethel, Ball's 
Bluff, and Manassas. Why ? 
Because the rebels are in ear- 
nest and you are not. Every- 
thing is at stake with them. 
They employ niggers, you don't. They seize, rob, burn, destroy ; they 
do everything to strengthen their cause and weaken you, while you 
pick your way as daintily as a dandy crossing a mud puddle, afraid 
of offending somebody. No, sir, you are not going to put down this 
Rebellion till you hit it in the tenderest spot, — the negro. You must 
take away its main support before it will fall." 

General Buell was in command of the department, with his head- 
quarters at the Gait House. He had a large army at Mumfordville and 
other points. He issued his orders by telegraph, but he had no plan of 
operations. There were no indications of a movement. The Confeder- 
ate sympathizers kept General Johnston, in command at Bowling Green, 
well informed as to Buell's inaction. There was daily communication 
between Louisville and the Confederate camp. There was constant 




MAJOR-GENERAL HENRY W. HALLECK. 



AFFAIRS IN THE WEST. lir 

illicit trade in contraband goods. The policy of General McClellan was 
also the policy of General Buell, — to sit still. 

With a letter of introduction in my hand from the Secretary of War, 
Mr. Cameron, I called upon the Union commander. He received me 
courteously, read the letter of the Secretary, and informed me that he 
did not intend to have any correspondents in his army. He regarded 
gentlemen of my profession as very dangerous men, in that we gave 
information to the enemy through our correspondence. 

" No, sir, I cannot grant you permission to accompany my army," he 
said, firmly. As there was no indication of his army making any move- 
ment, I did not much regret the rebuff. 

There being more activity manifest in St. Louis, I proceeded to that 
city, where General Halleck was in command. I found him thick-set, 
dark-featured, black-haired, sluggish, opinionated, self-willed, arbitrary, 
and cautious, in all his actions. When the war began he was practising 
law in San Francisco. Like General Buell, he had a very unfavourable 
opinion of correspondents, but made no objections to their presence with 
the army. 

Soon after his appointment to this department he issued, on the 20th 
of November, his Order No. 3, which roused the indignation of earnest 
loyal men throughout the country. Thus read the document : 

" It has been represented that information respecting the numbers 
and condition of our forces is conveyed to the enemy by means of fugi- 
tive slaves who are admitted within our lines. In order to remedy this 
evil, it is directed that no such persons be hereafter permitted to enter 
the lines of any camp, or of any forces on the march, and that any 
within our lines be immediately excluded therefrom." 

General Schofield was in command of northern Missouri, under 
General Halleck. The guerillas had burned nearly all the railroad 
bridges, and it was necessary to bring them to justice. The negroes 
along the line gave him the desired intelligence, and six of the lead- 
ers were in this way caught, tried by court-martial, and summarily 
shot. Yet General Halleck adhered to his infamous order. Diligent 
inquiries were made of officers in regard to the loyalty of the negroes, 
and no instance was found of their having given information to the 
enemy. In all of the slave-holding States a negro's testimony was of 
no account against a white man under civil law ; but General Schofield 
had, under military law, inaugurated a new order of things, — a drum- 
head court, a speedy sentence, a quick execution, on negro testimony. 



7 r 46 THE BOYS OF '61. 

The Secessionists and their sympathisers were indignant, and called 
loudly for his removal. 

The fine army which Fremont had commanded, and from which he 
had been summarily dismissed because of his anti-slavery order, was 
at Rolla, at the terminus of the southwest branch of the Pacific Rail- 
road. This road, sixteen miles out from St. Louis, strikes the valley 
of the Maramec, — not the Merrimack, born of the White Hills, in New 
Hampshire, but a sluggish stream^ tinged with blue and green, widen- 
ing in graceful curves, with tall-trunked elms upon its banks, and acres 
of low lands, which are flooded in freshets. It is a pretty river, but 
not to be compared in beauty to the stream which the muse of Whittier 
has made classic. Nearly all the residences in this section were 
Missourian in architectural proportions and features, — logs and clay, 
with the mammoth outside chimneys, cow-yard and piggery, an oven 
out-of-doors on stilts, an old wagon, half a dozen horses, hens, dogs, 
pigs, in front, and lean, cadaverous men and women peeping from the 
doorways, with arms akimbo, and pipes between the teeth. This was 
the prevailing feature, — this in a beautiful, fertile country, needing but 
the hand of industry, the energy of a free people, vitalised by the high- 
est civilisation, to make it one of the loveliest portions of the world. 

At Franklin the southwestern branch of the Pacific Railroad diverged 
from the main stream. It was a new place, brought into existence 
by the railroad, and consisted of a lime -kiln, a steam sawmill, and 
a dozen houses. Behind the town was a picturesque bluff, with the 
lime-kiln at its base, which might be taken for a ruined temple of 
some old Aztec city. Near at hand two Iowa regiments were encamped. 
A squad of soldiers was on the plain, and a crowd stood upon the 
depot platform, anxiously inquiring for the morning papers. It was 
a supply station, provisions being sent up both lines. Two heavy 
freight trains, destined for Rolla, were upon the southwestern branch. 
To one of them passenger - cars were attached, to which we were 
transferred. 

Beyond Franklin the road crosses the Maramec, enters a forest, winds 
among the hills, and finally, by easy grades, reaches a crest of land 
from which, looking to the right or the left, you can see miles away 
over an unbroken forest of oak. Far to the east is the elevated ridge 
of land which ends in the Pilot Knob, towards the Mississippi, and 
becomesthe Ozark Mountain Range toward the Arkansas line. We 
looked over the broad panorama to see villages, church spires, white 



AFFAIRS IN THE WEST. 77 

cottages, or the blue, curling smoke indicative of a town or human 
residence, but the expanse was primitive and unbroken. Not a sign of 
life could be discovered for many miles, as we slowly crept along the 
line. 

We looked in vain to discover a schoolhouse. A gentleman who 
was well acquainted with this portion of the State said that he knew of 
only two schoolhouses, — one in Warsaw and the other in Springfield. 
In a ride of one hundred and thirteen miles we saw but two churches. 

It was evening when we reached Rolla. When we stepped from the 
car in the darkness, there was a feeling that the place was a mortar- 
bed, and the inhabitants were preparing to make bricks. Our boots 
became heavy, and, like a man who takes responsibility, when we once 
planted our feet the tendency was for them to stay there. Guided by 
an acquaintance who knew the way, the hotel was reached. In the 
distance the weird camp-fires illumined the low-hanging clouds. From 
right and left came the roll of drums and the bugle-call. A group of 
men sat around the stove in the bar. The landlord escorted us to the 
wash-room, — a spacious, high-arched apartment, as wide as the east is 
from the west, as long as the north is from the south, as high-posted 
as the zenith, — where we found a pail of water, a tin basin, and a 
towel, for all hands ; and which all hands had used. After ablution 
came supper in the dining -hall, with bare beams overhead. Dinah 
waited upon us, — coal - black, tall, stately, worth a thousand dollars 
before the war broke out, but somewhat less just then, and Phillis, with 
a mob-cap on her head, bleached a little in complexion by Anglo-Saxon 
blood. 

We soon discovered that nothing was to be done by the army in this 
direction. The same story was current here as on the Potomac and in 
Kentucky, — " Not ready." General Sigel had sent in his resignation, 
disgusted with General Halleck. General Curtis had just arrived to 
take command. The troops were sore over the removal of Fremont ; 
they idolised him. Among the forty thousand men in the vicinity were 
those who had fought at Wilson's Creek. The lines between rebellion 
and loyalty were more sharply drawn here than in any other section of 
the country. Men acted openly. The army was radical in its senti- 
ments, believing in Fremont's order for the liberation of the slaves, 
which the President had set aside. 

There was one point which gave better promise of active operations 
— Cairo, at the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, which had been 



78 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



1 



seized at the outbreak of the war by troops from Chicago. I accord- 
ingly left Missouri and proceeded to that town. The commander of the 
post was an obscure man. His name was Grant. At the beginning of 




PHILLIS WITH A MOB-CAP ON HER HEAD.' 



HllliU 



the war he was in the leather business at Galena. He had been 
educated at West Point, where he stood well as a mathematician, but 
had left the service and had become a hard-working citizen. He was 



AFFAIRS IN THE WEST. 



79 



Colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois, and had been made a brigadier by 
the President. He was in charge of the expedition to Belmont, which, 
though successful in the beginning, had ended almost in disaster. 
Having credentials from the Secretary of War, I entered the head- 
quarters of the commanding officer, and found a man of medium 
stature, thick set, with blue eyes, and brown beard closely cropped, 
sitting at a desk. He 
was smoking a meer- 
schaum. He wore a 
plain, blue blouse, with- 
out any insignia of rank. 
His appearance was 
clerkly. General Mc- 
Clellan, in Washington, 
commanded in state, 
surrounded by brilliant 
staffs, men in fine broad- 
cloth, gold braid, plumed 
hats, and wearing clank- 
ing sabres. Orderlies 
and couriers were usu- 
ally numerous at head- 
quarters. 

" Is General Grant 
in ? " was the question 
directed to the supposed 
clerk in the corner. 

" Yes, sir," said the 
man, removing his meer- 
schaum from his mouth, 
and spitting with uner- 
ring accuracy into a 
spittoon by his side. 

" Will you be kind enough to give this letter to him ? " 

But the clerk, instead of carrying it into an adjoining room, opened 
it, ran his eye over the contents, extended his hand, and said : 

" I am right glad to see you. Please take a mail - cart, Colonel 
Webster will give you a pass." 

Such was my first interview with General Grant. I have seen him 




GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



80 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



many times since, — in the hour of victory, at Donelson ; in the shadow 
of the cloud, after Pittsburg Landing ; during the fearful days of the 
Wilderness ; in the last great hours of triumph, with Lee and his army 
paroled prisoners of war ; and there has ever been the same quiet, gen- 
tlemanly deportment. 

He was ever kind and generous to the correspondents of the news- 




CORRESPONDENTS OF NORTHERN NEWSPAPERS. 



papers, and allowed them all needful facilities for obtaining informa- 
tion. 

He knew that it was a conflict which must be sustained by the people, 
and they must know what the army was doing. 

I soon discovered that General Grant's chief of staff, Colonel 
Webster, had brothers with whom I was well acquainted. The hearti- 
ness of the welcome, in contrast to my experience in Louisville and St. 
Louis, at the outset, gave me a favourable impression of the quiet, unob- 
trusive man in command of the forces at the important strategic point, 
from which a movement, sooner or later, must be made to reopen the 
Mississippi River to commerce. 

The large hall of the St. Charles Hotel was the general resort of 



AFFAIRS IN THE WEST. 



81 



officers, soldiers, guests, and citizens. I was conversing with a friend 
the same afternoon when a short, muscular, quick-motioned man, in the 
prime of life, wearing a navy uniform, entered, to whom I was intro- 
duced. Commodore A. H. Foote commanded the fleet of gunboats with 
which the Government proposed to silence the Confederate batteries 
all the way to New Orleans. He complained of the cannon which had 
been sent him, old, original smooth-bore guns which had been rifled 
for modern service. 

With good ordnance he thought 
it would not be a difficult matter 
to reach New Orleans, though, as 
he modestly remarked, quoting 
the Scriptural proverb, " It be- 
comes not him who putteth on 
the harness to boast." He was 
lacking men. Recruiting officers 
had been sent to Chicago, Cleve- 
land, Buffalo, and other lake 
ports, but they had signally 
failed, because the department 
did not pay any advance to those 
in the river service, while on the 
seaboard advances were made. 
He had not men enough to man 
his gunboats. He had to get 
gun-carriages manufactured in 
Cincinnati, other things at St. 
Louis, others at Pittsburg ; but 
notwithstanding this, had organ- 
ised a fleet which would throw a tremendous weight of metal. He was 
not ready to move, yet would move, whether ready or not, whenever 
the word was given. He believed in fighting at close quarters. 

He spoke freely of the faults of the gunboats. They were too low in 
the water, and the engines of too limited capacity. They would not be 
able to make much he" 3 inst the stream. He considered them 

an experiment, and, lil riments, they were, of course, defective. 

He was a close stud d to his profession, and bore the marks 

of severe thought in es which were deepening on his brow. 

Time had begun to sib r and whiskers, but he walked with a 




REAR-ADMIRAL ANDREW H. FOOTE. 



82 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



firm step. He had rare conversational powers, and imparted informa- 
tion as if it were a pleasure. He was thoroughly conscientious, and had 
a deep sense of his responsibility. He was aware that his own reputa- 
tion and standing as well as the interests of the public were at stake. He 
was greatly beloved by his men. 

Two of the gunboats — the Essex and Louisville — were lying six or 
eight miles below Cairo, guarding the river. The .Essex! How often 
in boyhood had I thrilled at the story of her brave fight with the Cherub 
and Phebe in the harbour of Valparaiso ! How often I wished that 




ONE OF THE GUNBOATS. 

Captain Porter could have had a fair chance in that terrible fight, — one 
of the fiercest ones ever fought on the sea. But there was another 
Essex commanded by another Captain Porter, son of him who refused to 
surrender his ship till he had lost all power to defend her. 

The new craft was wholly unlike the old. That was a fast sailer, 
trim, and taut, and graceful as a swan upon the waters ; this a black 
box, once a St. Louis ferry-boat. The sailors who had breathed the salt 
air of the sea, who had swung in mid-heaven upon the swaying masts, 
who had rode in glee upon the storm-tossed billows, 

" Whose home was on the deep," 
regarded the new Essex in disgust, and rechristened her the Mud Turtle. 



AFFAIRS IN THE WEST. 83 

We were courteously received by her commander, Captain William D. 
Porter, a solid man, but little more than five feet high, yet broad- 
chested, quick and energetic in his movements. He had a long, thick, 
black beard, and twinkling eyes full of fire. He had the rolling gait of 
a sailor, and was constantly pacing the deck. He was a rapid talker, and 
had a great store of adventure and anecdote. We alluded to the part 
taken by his father in the War of 1812, and the gallant fight against 
great odds in Valparaiso Harbour. The eyes of the son kindled instantly. 

" Yes, sir ; that was a plucky fight. The old gentlemen never would 
have given in if there had been the least ray of hope ; but there was 
none. And he was too tender-hearted to needlessly slaughter his men." 

Three days previous to our visit to the Essex, two rebel boats 
came up from Columbus to see what the Yankees were doing. In five 
minutes Porter had his anchor up and steam on, pushing down to meet 
them half - way ; but they declined the courtesy, and steamed back to 
Columbus. 

" I followed them as fast as I could," said he, as we paced the deck. 
" I let them have my ten-inch Dahlgren and my two rifled forty-two- 
pounders one after another, and drove them till their batterries on the 
bluff above the town opened on me. Then I wrote an invitation to 
Montgomery, who commands their fleet, to meet me any day, and I 
would lick him like thunder. I fastened it to a cork and set it adrift 
and saw a boat go out and pick it up. Then I elevated my ten-inch and 
let them have a shell right into the town. I reckon it waked them up 
some." 

He laughed and chuckled, rubbed his hands, took a fresh quid of 
tobacco, and began to talk again of his father's exploits on the Pacific. 

The Confederates under Major-General Bishop Polk were in force at 
Columbus. There was also an attachment at Mayfield, east of Columbus. 
A sudden movement was made by General Grant in the direction of 
Mayfield, not with any design of an attack, but to deceive Polk in 
regard to the real intentions. The troops landed at old Fort Jefferson, 
six miles below Cairo, on the Kentucky side. It was a mild day in 
midwinter. The soldiers marched without baggage. Not one in ten 
had gloves or mittens ; and on the second night of the reconnoissance 
the cold became intense, and there was great suffering. 

The dwellings of the farmers in this section of Kentucky were of the 
Southern style of architecture, — log-houses, with chimneys built against 
the ends. Entering one to obtain a drink of water, we found i^o tall, 



84 THE BOYS OF '61. 

cadaverous young men, both of them shaking with ague. There was a 
large, old-fashioned fireplace, with a great roaring fire before which 
they were- sitting with the door wide open at their backs, and the cold 
air rushing upon them in torrents. Probably it did not occur to either 
of them that it would be better to shut the door. 

A Connecticut wooden clock ticked on a rude shelf, a bed stood in 
one corner. The walls were hung with old clothes and dried herbs, — 
catnip and tansy and thoroughwort. The clay had dropped out in 
many places, and we could look through the chinks and see the land- 
scape without. The foundations of the chimney had settled, and the 
structure was leaning away from the house. There were great cracks 
between the brickwork and the wood. 

They claimed to be good Union men, but said that all the rest of the 
people round them were disloyal. 

" We are having a hard time," said one. " The Secessionists were 
going to jump us, — to take our property because we were for the Union, 
and now your army has come and killed nigh about seventy-five hogs 
for us, I reckon. It is kinder hard, stranger, to be used so." 

" But, my friend, if it had not been for the Union troops would n't 
you have lost everything, if you are a Union man ? " 

"Yes, — perhaps so," was the long-drawn answer, given with hesita- 
tion. 

" There is a right smart heap of Southerners at Columbus, I reckon," 
said he. " There is Sam Wickliff and Josh Turner, and almost all the 
boys from this yere place, and they '11 fight, I reckon, stranger." 

We then learned that the officers of McClernand's division, having 
been deprived of the enjoyments of home life, and finding themselves 
among the belles of Western Kentucky, had made the most of the 
opportunity by dancing all night. 

" The gals danced themselves clean out, that is the reason they ain't 
about," said one of the young men, apologising for the absence of his 
sisters, and added, "They is rather afraid of the Lincolnites." The 
utterance of the last sentence contradicted all previous assertions of 
loyalty and hearty love for the Union. 

The troops made sad havoc among the stock, shooting pigs and sheep 
for fun. After scouring the country well towards Columbus, having 
accomplished the object of the expedition, — that of deceiving the enemy 
in regard to the movement contemplated up the Tennessee, — the force 
returned to Cairo. 



AFFAIRS IN THE WEST. 85 

The tide of success during the year 1861 was almost wholly in favour 
of the Confederates ; but at length there came a change, in the defeat 
of Zollicoffer by General Thomas at Mill Springs, on the 19th of 
January. I hastened to the centre of the State to watch operations 
which had suddenly become active in that quarter. 

It was on the last day of January that the porter of the Spencer 
House, in Cincinnati, awoke me with a thundering rap at five o'clock, 
shouting, " Cars for Lexington." It was still dark when the omnibus 
whirled away. There were six or eight passengers, all strangers, but 
conversation was at once started by a tall, stout, red-faced, broad- 
shouldered man, wearing a gray overcoat and a broad-brimmed, slouched 
hat, speaking the Kentucky vernacular. 

It is very easy to become acquainted with a genuine Kentuckian. He 
launches at once into conversation. He loves to talk, and takes it for 
granted that you like to listen. The gentleman who now took the lead 
sat in the corner of the omnibus, talking not only to his next neighbour, 
but to everybody present. The words poured from his lips like water 
from a wide-mouthed gutter during a June shower. In five minutes we 
had his history, — born in "old Kentuck," knew all the folks in Old 
Bourbon, had been a mule -driver, supplied old Virginia with more 
mules than she could shake a stick at, had got tired of " Old Kentuck," 
moved up into Indiana, was going down to see the folks, — all of this 
before we had reached the ferry; and before arriving at the Covington 
shore we had his opinion of the war, of political economy, the Constitu- 
tion, and the negroes. 

It was remarkable that, let any subject be introduced, even though it 
might be most remotely related to the war, the talkers would quickly 
reach the negro question. Just as in theological discussions the tendency 
is toward original sin, so upon the war, — the discussion invariably went 
beyond the marshalling of armies to the negro as the cause of the war. 

The gentleman in gray had not learned the sounds of the letters as 
given by the lexicographers of the English language, but adhered to the 
Kentucky dialect, giving " har " for hair, " thar " for there, with peculiar 
terminations. 

" Yer see, I us-ed to live in Old Kaintuck, down thar beyond Paris. 
Wal, I mov-ed up beyond Indiawo/»olis, bought a mighty nice farm. I 
know'd all the folks down round Paris. Thar's old Speers, who got 
shot down to Mill Springs, — he was a game mi; a white-haired old 
cuss who jined the Confederates. I know'd him. I 'tended his nigger 



86 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



sale sev'ral years ago, when he busted. He war a good old man, blame 
me if he want. He war crazy that ar day of the sale, and war down on 
the nigger-traders. He lost thousands of dollars that ar day, cause he 




"WHAT CAN WE BO WITH 'EM?" 

hated 'em, and run down his niggers, — said they wa' n't good when 
they war, just to keep 'em out of the hands of the cussed traders. 

" Wal, thar's Jim, — -I remember him. He's in Oonfed'rate army, 



AFFAIRS IN THE WEST. 87 

too. I lost a bet of tew hundred dollars with him on Letcher's 'lection, 
— that old drunken cuss who's disgracing Old Virginia ; blow me if I 
did n't. That was hard on me, cause on 'lection day, arter I 'd voted, 
I started with a drove of mu-els, four hundred on 'em nigh about, for 
Virginia. I felt mighty sick, I tell you, 'cause I had employed a 
drunken cuss to buy 'em for me, and he paid more then they war wuth. 
Wal, I know'd I would lose, and I did, — ten hundred dollars. Cusses, 
yer know, allers comes in flocks. Wal, only ges think of it, that ar 
drunken cuss is a kurnel in the Federal army. Blow me ef I think it's 
right. Men that drink too much ar' n't fit to have control of soldiers. 

" Wal, I am a Kentuckian. I 've got lots of good friends in the 
Southern army, and lots in the Union army. My idee is that Govern- 
ment ought to confiscate the property of the rebels, and when the 
war is over give it back to their wives and children. It's mighty 
hard to take away everything from 'em, — blow me if it a'n't. The 
Abolitionists want to confiscate the niggers. Wal, I know all about the 
niggers. They are a lazy, stealing set of cusses, the hull lot of 'em. 
What can we do with 'em ? That 's what I want to know. Now my 
wife, she wants niggers, but I don't. If Kentucky wants 'em, let 
her have 'em. It 's my opinion that Kentucky is better off with 'em, 
'cause she has got used to 'em. 

"The people are talking about starving the Confederates, but I've 
been through the South, and it can't be done. They can raise every- 
thing that we can, and it 's my candid opinion that Government is gwine 
to get licked." 

The arrival of the omnibus at the depot put an end to the talk. 

The Licking Valley, through which the railroad to Lexington runs, is 
very beautiful. There are broad intervales fringed with hickory and 
elm, wood-crowned hills, warm, sunny vales and charming landscapes. 
Nature has done much to make it a paradise ; art very little. The farm- 
houses are in the Kentucky style, — piazzas, great chimneys outside, 
negro cabins, — presenting at one view and in close contrast the 
extremes of wealth and poverty, power and weakness, civilisation and 
barbarism, freedom and slavery. 

The cit* of Lexington was a place of the past. Before railroads were 
projected, when Henry Clay was in the prime of manhood there, it was 
a place of enterprise and activity. The streets were alive with men. It 
was the great political and social centre of central Kentucky. The city 
flourished in those days, but its glory has passed away. The great com- 



THE BOYS OF 



■81. 



'o retun, Life llad 2?~ ^ SS""ft *?? — 

centres. In the suburbs were 




A.RMH0U8ES AUF iv tuu -. 

a KB, IN t^he KENTUCKY STYLE." 






AFFAIRS IN THE WEST. 89 

leaning earthward ; while even a beautiful church edifice had broken 
panes in its windows. The troubles of the year, like care and anxiety to 
a strong man, ploughing deep furrows on his face, had closed many 
stores, and written " To Rent" on many dwellings. A sudden paralysis 
had fallen, business had drooped, and society had lost its life. 

The Phenix w r as the ancient aristocratic hotel of the place. It was in 
appearance all of the old time, — a three-story, stone, brick, and plaster 
building, with small windows, and a great bar-room or office, which in 
former days was the resort of politicians, men of the turf, and attend- 
ants at court. A crowd of unwashed men were in the hall, spattered 
with mud, wearing slouched hats, unshaven and unshorn, — a motley 
crew ; some tilted against the walls in chairs, fast asleep, some talking 
in low tones and filling the room with fumes of tobacco. A half-dozen 
were greasing their boots. The proprietor apologised for their presence, 
remarking that they were teamsters who had just arrived from Somer- 
set, and were soon to go back with supplies for General Thomas's army. 

There were three hundred of them, rough, uncouth, dirty, but well 
behaved. There was no loud talking, no profanity, indecency or rude- 
ness, but a deportment through the day and night worthy of all com- 
mendation. 

While enjoying the fire in the reception-room two ladies entered, — 
one middle-aged, medium stature, having an oval face, dark hair, dark 
hazel eyes ; the other a young lady of nineteen or twenty years, sharp 
features, black hair, and flashing black eyes. They were boarders at 
the hotel, were well dressed, though not with remarkable " taste, but evi- 
dently were accustomed to move in the best circle of Lexington society. 
A regiment was passing the hotel. 

" There are some more Yankees going down to Mill Springs, 1 
reckon," said the elder. 

" Oh, is n't it too bad that Zollicoffer is killed ? I could have cried my 
eyes out when I heard of it," said the younger. " Oh, he was so brave, 
and noble, and chivalrous ! " 

" He was a noble man," the other replied. 

" Oh, I should so like to see a battle! " said the younger. 

" It might not be a pleasant sight, although we are often willing to 
forego pleasure for the sake of gratifying curiosity," I replied. 

" I should want my side to whip," said the girl. 

" Yes. We all expect our side to be victorious, though we are some- 
times disappointed, as was the case at Bull Run." 



90 THE BOYS OF '61. 

" Then you were at Bull Run ? I take it that you belong to the 
army ? " 

" I was there and saw the fight, although I was not connected with 
the army." 

" I am glad you were defeated. It was a good lesson to you. The 
Northerners have had some respect for the Southerners since then. 
The Southerners fought against great odds." 

" Indeed, I think it was the reverse." 

" No, indeed, sir. The Federals numbered over sixty thousand, while 
Beauregard had less than thirty thousand. He did not have more than 
twelve thousand in the fight." 

" I can assure you it is a grave mistake. General McDowell had less 
than thirty thousand men, and not more than half were engaged." 

" Well, I wonder what he was thinking of when he carried out those 
forty thousand handcuffs ? " 

" I did not suppose any one gave credence to that absurd story." 

" Absurd ? Indeed, sir, it is not. I have seen some of the hand- 
cuffs. There are several pairs of them in this city. They were brought 
directly from the field by some of our citizens who went on as soon as 
they heard of the fight. I have several trophies of the fight which our 
men picked up." 

No doubt the young lady was sincere. It was universally believed 
throughout the South that McDowell had thousands of pairs of hand- 
cuffs in his train, which were to be clapped upon the wrists of the 
Southern soldiers. 

" We have some terrible uncompromising Union men in this State," 
said the elder, " who would rather see every negro swept into the Gulf 
of Mexico, and the whole country sunk, than give up the Union. We 
have more Abolitionists here in this city than they have in Boston." 

It was spoken bitterly. She did not mean that the Union men 
of the State were committed 1 to immediate emancipation, but that 
they would accept emancipation rather than have the Secessionists 
succeed. 

A gentleman came in, sat down by the fire, warmed his hands, and 
joined in the conversation. Said he : "I am a Southerner. I have 
lived all my life among slaves. I own one slave, but I hate the system. 
There are counties in this State where there are but few slaves, and in 
all such counties you will find a great many Abolitionists. It is the 
brutalising influence of slavery that makes me hate it, — brutalising to 



AFFAIRS IN THE WEST. 91 

whites and blacks alike. I hate this keeping niggers to raise human 
stock, — to sell, just as you do horses and sheep." 

In all places the theme of conversation was the war and the negroes. 
The ultra pro-slavery element was thoroughly secession, and the Union- 
ists were beginning to understand that slavery was at the bottom of the 
rebellion. As in the dim light of the morning we already behold the 
approach of the full day, so they saw that these which seemed the events 
of an hour might broaden into that which would overthrow the entire 
slave system. 

I fell into conversation with a Presbyterian minister, who began to 
deplore the war. 

" We should conduct it," said he, " not as savages or barbarians, but 
as Christians, as civilised beings, on human principles." 

" In what way would you have our generals act to carry out what you 
conceive to be such principles ?" 

" Well, sir, the blockade is terribly severe on our friends in the South, 
who are our brothers. The innocent are suffering with the guilty. We 
should let them have food, and raiment, and medicines, but we should 
not let them have cannon, guns, and powder." 

" When do you think the war would end if such a plan were adopted ? " 

He took a new tack, not replying to the question, but said : 

" The North began the trouble in an unchristian spirit." 

" Was not the first gun fired by the rebels upon Fort Sumter ? " 

" That was not the beginning of the war. It was the election of 
Lincoln. " 

" Then you would not have a majority of the people elect their offi- 
cers in the constituted way ? " 

" Well, if Lincoln had been a wise man he would have resigned, and 
saved this terrible conflict." 

There is a point beyond which forbearance ceases to be a virtue, and 
I expressed the hope that the war would be waged with shot and shell, 
fire and sword, naval expeditions and blockades, and every possible 
means, upon the men who had conspired to subvert the Government. 
There was no reply, and he soon left the room. 

Buell's right wing, under General Crittenden, was at Calhoun, on 
Green River. Intelligence arrived that it was to be put in motion. 

Leaving Lexington in the morning, and passing by cars through 
Frankfort, — an old town, the capital of the State, like Lexington, seedy 
and dilapidated, — we reached Louisville in season to take our choice 



92 THE BOYS OF '61. 

of the two steamers, Gray Eagle and Eugene, to Henderson. They 
were both excellent boats, running in opposition, carrying passengers 
one hundred and eighty miles, providing for them two excellent meals 
and a night's lodging, all for fifty cents. People were patronising both 
boats, because it was much cheaper than staying at home. 

Taking the Gray Eagle, — a large side- wheel steamer, — we swept 
along with the speed of a railroad train. The water was very high, and 
rising. The passengers were almost all from Kentucky. Some of the 
ladies thronging the saloon were accustomed to move in the " best 
society," which had not literary culture and moral worth for its stand- 
ards, but broad acres, wealth in lands and distilleries. They were 
" raised " in Lexington or Louisville or Frankfort. They spoke of the 
" right smart " crowd on board, nearly " tew " hundred, according to 
their idea. 

But there is another class of Kentuckians as distinct from these 
excellent ladies as chalk from cheese. They are of that class to which 
David Crockett belonged in his early years, — born in a cane-brake and 
cradled in a trough. There were two in the saloon, seated upon an 
ottoman, — a brother and sister. The brother was more than six feet 
tall, had a sharp, thin, lank countenance, with a tuft of hair on his chin 
and on his upper lip. His face was of the colour of milk and molasses. 
He wore a Kentucky homespun suit, — coat, vest, and pants of the same 
material, and coloured with butternut bark. He had on, although in 
the saloon, a broad- brimmed, slouched hat, with an ornament of 
blotched mud. He was evidently more at home with his hat on than to 
sit bareheaded, — and so consulted his own pleasure, without mistrust- 
ing that there was such a thing as politeness in the world. He had 
been plashing through the streets of Louisville. He had scraped off the 
thickest of the mud. There he sat, the right foot thrown across the 
left knee, with as much complacency as it is possible for a mortal to 
manifest, although there was a gap between his pants and vest of about 
six inches, — a yellowish, tawny streak of shirt. He sat in unconcerned 
silence, or stalked through the saloon with his hands in his pockets, or 
stretched himself at full length upon the sofa, and took a comfortable 
snooze. 

His sister, — a girl of eighteen, — had an oval face, arched eyebrows, 
and full cheeks, flowing, flaxen hair, and gray eyes. She wore a plain 
dress of gray homespun, without hoops, and, when standing, appeared as 
if she had encased herself in a meal-ba<>\ There was no neat white 



AFFAIRS IN THE WEST. 93 

collar, or bit of ribbon, or cord, or tassel, — no attempt at feminine 
adornment. She was a " nut-brown maid," — bronzed by exposure, with 
a countenance as inexpressive as a piece of putty. A dozen ladies and 
gentlemen, who came on board at a little town twenty miles below Louis- 
ville, were enjoying themselves in a circle of their own, with the play of 
" Consequences." The cabin rang with their merry laughter, and we 
who looked on enjoyed their happiness ; but there was no sign of anima- 
tion in her countenance, — a block of wood could not have been more 
unsympathetic. 

Among the ladies on board was one, a resident of Owensboro', who, 
upon her marriage, eight years before, had moved from the town of 
Auburn, New York, the home of Mr. Seward. 

" I was an Abolitionist," she said, " before I left home, but now that 
I know what slavery is I like it. The slaveholders are so independent 
and live so easy ! They can get rich in a few years ; and there is no 
class in the world who can enjoy so much of life as they." 

It was evidently a sincere expression of her sentiments. 

She was for the Union, but wanted slavery let alone. The strife in 
Owensboro' had been exceedingly bitter. Nearly all her old friends and 
neighbours were rampant Secessionists. Secession, like a sharp sword, 
had cut through society and left it in two parts, as irreconcilable as 
vice and virtue. There was uncompromising hostility ready to flame 
out into war at any moment in all the Kentucky towns. There was 
also on board a loud-talking man who walked the saloon with his hands 
in his pockets, looking everybody square in the face ; he was intensely 
loyal to the Union. 

" Why don't Buell move ? Why don't Halleck move ? It is my 
opinion that they are both of 'em old grannies. I want to see the 
rebels licked. I have lived in Tophet for the last six months. I live 
in Henderson, and it has been a perfect hell ever since the rebels fired 
on Fort Sumter. I have lost my property through the d — d scoun- 
drels. I want a regiment of Union troops to go down there and clean 
out the devils." 

It was early morning when the scream of the Gray Eagle roused the 
usual crowd of loafers from their sleep and inanition at Owensboro'. 
People came down to the wharf eager to hear the news. Among them 
was one enthusiastic admirer of Abraham Lincoln. He was bloated, 
blear-eyed, a tatterdemalion, with just enough whiskey in him to make 
him thick-spoken, reckless, and irresponsible in the eyes of his liquor- 



94 THE BOYS OF '61. 

loving companions. While we were at a distance he swung his hat and 
gave a cheer for Old Abe ; as we came nearer he repeated it ; and, as 
the plank was being thrown ashore, he fairly danced with ecstasy, shout- 
ing, " Hurrah for Old Abe ! He '11 fix 'em. Hurrah for Old Abe ! 
Hurrah for Old Abe!" 

" Shet up, you drunken cuss. Hurrah for Jeff Davis ! " was the 
response of another blear-eyed, tipsy loafer. 

The steamer Storm was tolling its bell as the Gray Eagle came to the 
landing at Evansville, bound for Green River. Her decks were piled 
with bags of corn and coffee. A barge was tethered to her side, loaded 
with bundle hay and a half-dozen ambulances. We were just in time to 
reach the deck before the plank was drawn in. Then with hoarse puffs 
the heavily laden old craft swung into the stream and surged slowly 
against the swollen tide of the Ohio. Green River joins the Ohio ten 
miles above Evansville. It is a beautiful stream, with forest-bordered 
banks. 

Among the passengers on the Storm was a stout man with an 
enormous quantity of brown hair, and a thick yellow beard, belonging 
to Hopkinsville, near the Tennessee line, who had been compelled to 
flee for his life. 

" We got up a cannon company, and I was captain," he said. " We 
had as neat a little six-pounder as you ever saw ; but I was obliged to 
cut and run when the rebels came in December ; but I buried the pup, 
and the Secessionists don't know where she is ! If I ever get back there 
I '11 make some of them cusses — my old neighbours — bite the dust. I 
have just heard that they have tied my brother up and almost whipped 
him to death. They gouged out his eyes, stamped in his face, and have 
taken all his property." 

Here he was obliged to stop his narrative and give vent to a long 
string of oaths, consigning the rebels to all the tortures and pains of the 
bottomless pit forever. Having vented his wrath, he said : 

" Now, sir, there is a grave judicial question on my mind, and I 
would like your opinion upon it. If you owned a darkey who should 
get over into Indiana, a bright, intelligent darkey, and he should take 
with him ten niggers from your Secession neighbors, and you should 
happen to know it, would you send them back ?" 

" No, sir ; I should not." 

" That is my mind 'zactly. I knew you was a good Union man the 
moment I sot my eyes on ye." Then came an interesting explanation. 



AFFAIRS IN THE WEST. 95 

He had one slave, a devoted fellow, who had become an active conduc- 
tor on the underground railroad. The slave had been often to Evans- 
ville and knew the country, and had enticed away ten negroes belonging 
to the Secessionists in the vicinity of Hopkinsville. He had seen them 
all that morning, and more, had given each of them a hearty breakfast. 
" You see," said he, " if they belonged to Union men 1 would have sent 

'em back ; but they belonged to the Secessionists who have driven 

me out, taken all my property, and do you think I 'd be mean enough to 
send the niggers back ? " 

On board the Storm were several other men who had been driven from 
their homes by the Secessionists. There was one gentleman, a slave- 
holder from the little town of Volney, between Hopkinsville and the 
Cumberland River. All of his property had been taken; his negroes, if 
they were not sold or seized, were roaming at will. He had two 
brothers in the Confederate army. He was a plain, sensible, well-in- 
formed farmer. He lived close upon the Tennessee line, and was 
acquainted with the Southern country. 

" Slavery is a doomed institution," said he ; " from Kentucky, from 
Missouri, from Maryland, and Virginia, the slaves have been pouring 
southward. There has been a great condensation of slaves at the South 
where they are not wanted, and where they cannot be supported if the 
blockade continues. The South never has raised its own provisions. 
She could do it if she put forth her energies ; but she never has and she 
will not now. The time will come, if the blockade continues, when the 
master will be compelled to say to the slaves, w Get your living where 
you can,' and then the system, being rolled back upon itself, will be 
broken up. As for myself, I would like to have kept my slaves, because 
I am getting along in years and I wanted them to take care of me ; but, 
as the Secessionists have taken them and driven me out, it won't make 
any difference to me whether the system is continued or not." 

The steamer made its way up to the town of Calhoun, where the 
troops comprising the right wing of BuelPs army were encamped. It 
was early morning when we came to the landing. I made my way 
through the soft mud to a hotel, entered the bar-room, fetid with yester- 
day's tobacco smoke and odourous with the fumes of whisky. Entering 
the dining-room, I found a stalwart negro asleep upon the dining-room 
table. An hour later T was making my breakfast of fried bacon and 
corn bread at the table which had served the coloured man for a couch 
h the night. 



96 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



Visiting the army, I found a group of soldiers lounging on the piazza 
of a grocery. Before the coming of the troops the country people could 
obtain their tobacco and whisky at the counter of the shanty, but the 
provost marshal had interdicted the sale of liquor. A brief visit 
sufficed to show that there was not likely to be any immediate move- 
ment on the part of any of Buell's troops, and 1 took my departure from 
Calhoun. 




&f< 



1&- 



CHAPTER V. 

OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN IN TENNESSEE. 

FROM the outset it had been seen that the Tennessee and Cumber- 
land Rivers would be military highways. The Confederates had 
constructed Fort Henry on the banks of the Tennessee, just south of 
the Kentucky boundary, and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland near the 
little town of Dover. They had violated the neutrality of Kentucky by 
invading that State and taking possession of the high bluffs at Colum- 
bus. It was known that Fort Henry was a mud fortification constructed 
by slaves, on the east bank of the river, screened by a thicket of wil- 
lows, with a battery of sixteen guns, one ten-inch, one sixty-pounder, 
twelve thirty-two, and two twelve-pounders, so arranged that they could 
be pointed down the river to knock the gunboats into kindling wood or 
turned inland to throw grape and canister upon an attacking force. 
Outside the fort was a strong abattis. It was manned by four thousand 
troops under General Tilghman. At Columbus were twenty-two thou- 
sand under General Leonidas Polk ; at Fort Donelson twenty thousand 
under General Floyd, President Buchanan's former Secretary of War, 
and General Buckner. This formed the western section of the Confeder- 
ate line of defence. At Bowling Green in central Kentucky, on the south 
bank of Big Barren River, was General Albert Sidney Johnston with 
twelve thousand. Confronting Johnston was Buell with a large inactive 
army. At Cairo was General Grant. Colonel Garfield, by defeating the 
Confederates on the Big Sandy River, and General Thomas, by his victory 
at Mill Springs, had given an impetus to the cause of the Union in that 
section. Where now would be the easiest point for an advance of the 
Union forces ? The two commanders, Commodore Foote and General 
Grant, were working in complete harmony, undisturbed by professional 
jealousy, but animated by the loftiest patriotism. 

" I am of the opinion," said the commodore, " that Fort Henry can be 
carried by the gunboats, aided by the troops." 

" If the fort can be taken, it will be easy to operate against Fort 

97 



98 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



Donelson or Columbus from that point," wrote Grant to General 
Halleck. 

On February 2d, the gunboats, followed by a fleet of river steamers, 
with the regiments, left Cairo and steamed up the Tennessee. The 
river was overflowing its banks. The troops landed several miles below 
the fort. Scouts made their way inland. 

" You won't take the fort," said a woman at a farmhouse. 

" Oh, yes, we shall ; the 
gunboats will knock it to 
pieces," the scout replied. 
" The river is planted with 
torpedoes." 

The information was re- 
ported to Commodore Foote, 
and the sailors, jumping into 
boats with grappling - irons 
fished up six iron pots filled 
with powder and supplied with 
fuses and concussion caps. 
It is doubtful if they would 
have exploded, their con- 
struction being exceedingly 
rude. At the outset of the 
war the Confederacy was dis- 
covering that slavery produced 
no skilled mechanics. 
At the moment I was on my way down the Ohio River from Calhoun, 
but was too late to accompany the expedition. Fort Henry had been 
captured and the gunboats had dropped down the river on their way to 
Cairo when I landed once more upon the levee of the delectable town. 

" Can you favour me with an account of the affair ? " I asked of Com- 
modore Foote. 

" It will give me great pleasure to do so after I have prepared my 
despatches for Washington," he replied. 

It was past midnight when he came to my room. He sat down, and 
leaned back wearily in his chair. But soon recovering his usual energy, 
gave the full details of the action. He had prepared his instructions to 
his crews several days before the battle, and, upon mature thought, saw 
nothing to change. 




LIEUTENANT-GENERAL LEONIDAS POLK, C. S. A. 



OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN IN TENNESSEE. 99 

To the commanders and crews he said that it was very necessary to 
success that they should keep cool. He desired them to fire with delib- 
erate aim, and not to attempt rapid firing, for four reasons, viz., that 
with rapid firing there was always a waste of ammunition ; that their 
range would be wild ; that the enemy would be encouraged unless the 
fire was effectual ; that it was desirable not to heat the guns. 

With these instructions he led his fleet up the narrow channel under 
cover of Pine Island, thus avoiding long-range shot from the rifled guns 
which it was known the enemy had in position to sweep the main 
channel. He steamed slow, to allow the troops time to gain their 
position. 

He visited each vessel and gave personal directions. He took his 
own position in the pilot-house of the Cincinnati. The St. Louis was on 
his right hand, and the Carondelet and Essex were on his left, with the 
Tyler, Connestoga, and Lexington in rear. There is an island a mile 
and a quarter below the fort. When the head of the island was reached 
the boats came into line and were within easy range. 

" Do just as I do," was his last order to the commanders. 

The Cincinnati opened, and the other vessels were quick to follow the 
commodore's example. 

" I had a definite purpose in view," said he, " to take the fort at all 
hazards. It was necessary for the success of the cause. We have had 
disaster upon disaster, and I intended, God helping me, to win a victory. 
It made me feel bad when I saw the Essex drop out of the line, but I 
knew that the fort couldn't stand it much longer. I should have 
opened my broadsides in a minute or two, if Tilghman had not surren- 
dered, and that I knew would settle the question. We were not more 
than four hundred yards distant." 

He said that when the Essex dropped behind the Confederates set up 
a tremendous cheer, and redoubled their fire ; but, being excited, their 
aim was bad. 

" There is nothing like keeping perfectly cool in battle," said he. 

" When Tilghman came into my cabin," said the commodore, " he 
asked for terms, but I informed him that his surrender must be final." 

" Well, sir, if I must surrender, it gives me pleasure to surrender to 
so brave an officer as you," said Tilghman. 

" You do perfectly right to surrender, sir ; but I should not have 
surrendered on any condition." 

" Why so ? I do not understand you." 



100 THE BOYS OF '61. 

" Because I was fully determined to capture the fort or go to the 
bottom." 

The general opened his eyes at this remark, but replied, " I thought 
I had you, commodore, but you were too much for me." 

" But how could you fight against the old flag ? " 

" Well, it did come hard, at first ; but if the North had only let us 
alone there would have been no trouble. But they would not abide by 
the Constitution. 

" You are mistaken, sir. The North has maintained all of her con- 
stitutional obligations. You of the South have perjured yourselves. . I 
talked to him faithfully," said the zealous officer. 

The commodore had become nervously restless, but said, as he rose 
to go : "I never slept better in my life than I did the night before 
going into the battle, and I never prayed more fervently than I did 
yesterday morning, that God would bless the undertaking, and He has 
signally answered my prayer. I don't deserve it, but I trust that I shall 
be grateful for it. But I could n't sleep last night for thinking of those 
poor fellows on board the Essex, who were wounded and scalded. 1 
told the surgeons to do everything possible for them. Poor fellows, I 
must go and see that they are well cared for." 

It was one o'clock in the morning, yet exhausted as he was, he went 
to see that the sufferers were having every possible attention. 

This was on Saturday morning ; on Sunday he went to church as 
usual. The minister was not there, and, after waiting awhile, the 
audience, one by one, began to drop off, whereupon Commodore Foote 
entered the pulpit, and conducted the exercises, reading the fourteenth 
chapter of John's Gospel, and addressed the congregation, urging 
sinners to repentance, picturing the unspeakable love of Christ, and 
the rewards which await the righteous, and closing the services by a 
fervent prayer. It was as unostentatious as all his other acts, undertaken 
with a dutiful desire to benefit those about him, and to glorify God. 
That was his aim in life. 

The troops which were in and around Fort Henry fled in dismay 
soon after the opening of the bombardment, leaving all their camp 
equipage. In the barracks the camp-fires were still blazing, and 
dinners cooking when our troops entered. Books, letters half written, 
trunks, carpet-bags, knives, pistols, were left behind and were eagerly 
seized by the soldiers, who rent the air with shouts of laughter, mingled 
with the cheers of victory. 



OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN IN TENNESSEE. 101 

A break had been made in the Confederate line. By the Tennessee 
River the Union gunboats could make their way nearly to Chattanooga, 
gaining the rear of the Confederates at Donelson, on the Cumberland, 
and those at Bowling Green. Albert Sidney Johnston was in command 
of the Confederate troops in Kentucky. When he learned of what had 
happened at Fort Henry he resolved to concentrate a large portion of 
his troops at Donelson, and meet the Union troops at that point. He 
would make the fight for holding the States of Kentucky and Tennessee 
there, — General John B. Floyd, Gideon J. Pillow, and Simon B. Buckner, 
with their divisions, numbering from sixteen to eighteen thousand, to hold 
the works constructed at the little town of Dover, and named Fort 
Donelson. Floyd had been Secretary of War under Buchanan. He 
was a Virginian, and had done what he could while Secretary to strip 
Northern arsenals of arms and ammunition, sending them to the 
Southern States. He had embezzled money belonging to Government, 
and was under indictment by a grand jury in Washington from whence 
he had fled the preceding winter, before the inauguration of President 
Lincoln. He knew very little about military matters, but had been 
appointed brigadier - general by Jefferson Davis, and outranked Pillow 
and Buckner. Pillow had served in the Mexican War, but knew so 
little about military affairs that he constructed a fortification at 
Carmargo, with the ditch on the wrong side of the embankment. He 
was egotistical, and when in Mexico intrigued against General Scott, 
and thought himself competent to command the army that entered the 
Mexican Capital. Buckner was younger than his superiors, but was far 
abler than either of them. Pillow had quarrelled with him and they 
were not on speaking terms. 

General Grant had about fourteen thousand men. He determined 
with them, aided by the gunboats, to attempt the capture of Donelson. 
He had no tents, and only a few wagons, yet made preparations to 
march across the neck of land between the Tennessee and Cumberland 
Rivers, twelve miles, and besiege the Confederates. It was a bold, haz- 
ardous movement. The Confederates outnumbered him, but troops 
were on their way and he would soon have from eighteen to twenty 
thousand. On the morning of the 12th the army began its march. It 
was a spectacle not often seen in military operations, an inferior force 
marching to besiege a superior entrenched behind strong fortifications. 
General McClernand's division took possession of the roads leading south 
from Dover, General Lew Wallace's division came next, and then General 
C. F. Smith's. 



102 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



The battle began with the advance of McClernand, and his repulse, and 
then the attack of the four iron-clad gunboats on the afternoon of the 
14th, Admiral Foote keeping up the advance till within three hundred 
and fifty yards of the water batteries, when the wheel of the flagship 
was shot away, and the tiller ropes of the Louisville, disabling both ves- 
sels, and putting an end to the action. The Confederates yelled with 
delight. The attack of McClernand and that by the fleet had failed. 




GUNBOATS ATTACKING THE FORT. 



The day had been warm, suddenly the wind changed, the mercury 
went down, and a violent snow-storm set in. 

We did not know it then, but before the attack by the gunboats Gen- 
eral Floyd called his officers to a council of war. He said the place 
could not be held with less than fifty thousand. He thought it best to 
make an attack on McClernand, reopen the roads and thus enable the 
army to abandon the fort and return to Nashville. The proposition was 
agreed to, but the failure of the gunboats led General Pillow to believe 
the place could be held, and the order was countermanded. But while 
the snow-storm was raging Floyd again called his officers to a council. 
He was nervous. Possibly the thought of his being cooped up in a forti- 



OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN IN TENNESSEE. 



103 



fication, that he might be taken prisoner, and that an indictment was 
hanging over him, had something to do with his desire to get away from 
Donelson, and it was decided that at daybreak Pillow should attack 
McClernand, and Buckner should advance against Wallace's division. 

At daybreak, just as the Union buglers were getting ready to 
sound the reveille^ the Confederates, under Pillow, assailed Oglesby's 
brigade, holding the extreme right 
of the Union line. The battle 
raged from daybreak till eleven 
o'clock, the Confederates gradu- 
ally pushing McClernand back, 
and gaining possession of the 
roads. The Confederates had 
won the victory, gained what they 
had set out to do. Why did they 
not do it ? The vain and egotis- 
tical General Pillow had a vision 
of greatness. He had led the 
attack, won the battle, henceforth 
he would stand before the world 
a hero, possibly be commander- 
in-chief of the armies of the 
Confederacy. He sent a grandilo- 
quent despatch to General John- 
ston at Bowling Green, ignoring 
Floyd, and berated Buckner for 
not doing what he might have 

done. Escape — retreat ? No ; he would follow up the victory. 
Instead of receiving orders from Floyd, he gave orders to Buckner to 
attack Wallace. 

It was mid-afternoon. General Grant through the forenoon had been 
in consultation with Commodore Foote, not aware of what was taking 
place. No sound of the cannonades or roar of musketry reached the 
fleet moored to the trees along the bank of the Cumberland, four miles 
below Donelson. It was mid-afternoon when he arrived upon the field. 
General Thayer's brigade had held the Confederates in check. 

" Gentlemen," he said, " the position on our right must be retaken." 

He looked into the haversack' of a Confederate prisoner — saw that it 
was supplied with three days' rations. 




MAJOR-GENERAL C. F. SMITH. 



104 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



"This is a movement to enable them to escape," he said 

8 the troops to advance against Pillow, he directed 




STORMING THE BREASTWORKS 



C. F. Smith to assault the works immediately in front of him T ■ 
brigade, the Twenrv fifth T n M .. „ Lanman's 



OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN IN TENNESSEE. 105 

front of them. Though cut through by solid shot and shell, and mowed 
down by musketry, they advanced over a meadow, through woods and 
thick underbrush. 

The Confederate cannon opened upon them, but the ranks moved on, 
the soldiers, stimulated by their brave commander, charging upon the 
Confederate breastworks and driving the enemy up a steep hill. 

Night was coming on and Smith's men crouched behind the works 
they had gained. Lew Wallace's troops advanced together with Mc- 
Clernand's, and with the going down of the sun the roads, by which the 
Confederates might have escaped, were once more closed. 

Again Floyd called a council of war. It was agreed by all that they 
could not escape ; that they must surrender. Floyd said he could not 
become a prisoner. Being commander, he put his troops on two steam- 
ers, turned the command of the army over to Pillow, and fled to Nash- 
ville. Pillow had no intention of being captured, and fled with Floyd, 
leaving Buckner in command. 

It was a beautiful Sunday morning, when, just as General Grant was 
ready to make the assault, a Confederate bugle sounded, and a white 
flag was seen waving above the Confederate breastworks. Then fol- 
lowed the correspondence between Grant and Buckner, and the demand 
for unconditional surrender. 

The scene at Donelson on Sunday morning, the day of surrender, was 
exceedingly exhilarating, — the marching in of the victorious divisions, 
— the bands playing, their flags waving, the cheers of the troops, — the 
gunboats firing a salute, — the immense flotilla of river steamboats 
gayly decorated. The New Uncle Sam was the boat on which General 
Grant had established his headquarters. The Uncle Sam, at a signal 
from Commodore Foote, ranged ahead, came alongside one of the gun- 
boats, and, followed by all the fleet, steamed up river past Fort Donel- 
son, thick with Confederate soldiers, — past the entrenched camp of 
log-huts, past a schoolhouse on a hill, above which waved a hospital 
flag, — and on to Dover, the gunboats thundering a national salute the 
while. 

A warp was thrown ashore, the plank run out. I sprang up the bank 
and mingled among the disconsolate Confederates, a careworn, haggard, 
melancholy crowd which stood upon the heights above. They all told 
one story, claiming that they had fought well ; that we outnumbered 
them ; that there was a disagreement among their officers ; that we had 
got General Buckner ; that Floyd and Pillow had escaped ; that Floyd 



106 THE BOYS OF '61. 

had taken four regiments of his brigade ; that there were four steamers ; 
that they went off crowded with soldiers, the guards sunk to the water's 
edge. 

The town of Dover was the county-seat of Stewart, and a point where 
the farmers ship their produce. It was a straggling village on uneven 
ground, and contained perhaps five hundred inhabitants. There were a 
few buildings formerly used for stores, a doctor's office, a dilapidated 
church, a two-story, square, brick court-house, and a half-dozen decent 
dwellings. But the place had suffered greatly while occupied by the 
Secession forces. Nearly every building was a hospital. Trees had been 
cut down, fences burned, windows broken, and old buildings demolished 
for fuel. 

I came upon a squad of soldiers hovering around a fire. Some were 
wrapped in old patched bedquilts which had covered them at home. 
Some had white blankets, made mostly of cotton. Others wore bright 
booking, which had evidently been furnished from a merchant's stock. 
One had a faded piece of threadbare carpet. Their guns were stacked, 
equipments thrown aside, cartridge-boxes, belts, and ammunition tram- 
pled in the mud. There were shot-guns, single and double-barreled, 
old heavy rifles, flintlock muskets of 1828, some of them altered into 
percussion locks, with here and there an Enfield rifle. 

A few steps brought me to the main landing, where the Confederate 
stores were piled, and from which Floyd made his escape. The gun- 
boats were lying off the landing, and a portion of McClernand's division 
was on the hills beyond, the Stars and Stripes and the regimental ban- 
ners waving and the bands playing. Away up on the hill Taylor's bat- 
tery was firing a national salute. 

Then there was a dense crowd of Secessionists, evidently the rabble, 
or the debris of the army, belonging to all regiments. Some were 
sullen, others indifferent, still others who evidently felt a sense of relief. 
Among them were squads of our own soldiers, with smiling faces, but 
manifesting no disposition to add to the unhappiness of the captured. 

General McClernand's division had marched down to the outskirts of 
the village, and was keeping guard. A private ran into the court-house 
and threw the flag of the Union to the breeze from the belfry. In the 
basement of a store was the Confederate arsenal, — piles of rifles, old 
shot-guns, many of them ticketed with the owner's name, many hunters' 
rifles, which had done good service in other days among the mountains 
and forests of Tennessee, but, for use in battle, of little account. 



OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN IN TENNESSEE. 107 

In another building was the Commissary department, containing 
hogsheads of sugar, barrels of rice, boxes of abominable soap, and a few- 
barrels of flour. Later in the day I saw soldiers luxuriating like chil- 
dren in the hogsheads of sugar. Many a one filled his canteen with 
New Orleans molasses and his pockets with damp brown sugar. From 
a store a squad of soldiers were taking things of no earthly use. One 
had a looking-glass under his arm, one a paper of files, another several 
brass candlesticks, one a package of bonnets. 

The Mississippians and Texans were boiling over with rage against 
Floyd and Pillow for having deserted them. 

" Floyd always was a d — d thief and sneak," said one. 

Just before sunset I took a ramble through the grounds and encamp- 
ments of the Confederates, who were falling into line preparatory to 
embarking upon the steamers. Standing on a hill beyond the village, I 
had at one view almost all their force. Hogarth never saw such a sight ; 
Shakespeare, in his conceptions of Falstaff's tatterdemalions, could not 
have imagined the like, — not that they were deficient in intellect, or 
wanting in courage, for among them were noble men, brave fellows, who 
shed tears when they found they were prisoners of war, and who swore 
with round oaths that they would shoot Floyd as they would a dog, if 
they could get a chance. 

The formal surrender of the fort took place in the cabin of the New 
Uncle Sam, in the evening. Buckner sat on one side of the table and 
General Grant on the other. Buckner was attended by two of his staff. 
The Confederate commander was in the prime of life, although his hair 
had turned iron gray. He was of medium stature, having a low fore- 
head and thin cheeks, wore a moustache and meagre whiskers. He had 
on a light-blue kersey overcoat and a checked neckcloth. He was smok- 
ing a cigar, and talking in a low, quiet tone. He evidently felt that he 
was in a humiliating position, but his deportment was such as to 
command respect when contrasted with the course of Floyd and Pillow. 
His chief of staff sat by his side. 

Buckner freely gave information relative to his positions, his forces, 
their disposition, and his intentions. He expected to escape, and 
claimed that the engagements on Saturday were all in favour of the 
Confederates. No opprobrious words were used by any one. No 
discussions entered into. He asked for subsistence for his men, and 
said that he had only two days' provisions on hand. He had favours to 
ask for some of his wounded officers, all of which were readily acceded 



108 THE BOYS OF '61. 

to by General Grant, who was very much at ease, smoking a cigar, and 
conducting the business with dignity, yet with despatch. 

The prisoners were taken on board of the transports, the men on the 
lower deck, and the officers having the freedom of the boat. The saloons 
and cabins, berths and staterooms were filled with the wounded of both 
armies. 

" The conditions of surrender have been shamefully violated," said 
an officer. 

" How so ? " I asked. 

" It was agreed that we should be treated like gentlemen, but the 
steward of the boat won't let us have seats at the table. He charges 
us a half-dollar a meal, and refuses Confederate money." 

" Well, sir, you fare no worse than the rest of us. I paid for a state- 
room, but the surgeon turned me out and put in a wounded man, which 
was all right and proper, and at which I have no complaint to make, 
and I shall think myself well off if I can get hardtack." 

While conversing with him, a Mississippi captain came up, — a tall, 
red- whiskered, tobacco-chewing, ungainly fellow, with a swaggering air. 
" This is d — d pretty business. They talk of reconstructing the Union, 
and begin by rejecting our money. I don't get anything to eat," he said. 

I directed his attention to a barrel of bacon and several boxes of 
bread which had been opened for the prisoners, and from which they 
were helping themselves. He turned away in disgust, saying : 

"Officers are to be treated according to their rank, — like gentlemen, 
— and I '11 be d — d if I don't pitch in and give somebody a licking ! " 

Although Commodore Foote had been wounded in the guuboat attack 
upon the fort, he intended to push up the river to Nashville, and inter- 
cept General Albert Sidney Johnston, who he knew must be falling back 
from Bowling Green, but he was stopped by a despatch from General 
Halleck to General Grant : 

" Don't let Foote go up the river." 

The gunboats could have reached Nashville in eight hours. Floyd 
and Pillow, who made their escape from Donelson at sunrise, reached 
the city before noon, while the congregations were in the churches. 
Had Commodore Foote followed he would have been in the city by three 
o'clock, holding the bridges, patrolling the rivers, and cutting off John- 
ston's retreat. 

General Halleck had endeavoured to prevent negro slaves from enter- 
ing the Union lines, but without avail. Just before daybreak on Sunday 



OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN IN TENNESSEE. 109 

morning a negro approached the picket -lines and informed General 
Grant that the Confederates were fleeing. Instead of sending him back 
to his master, General Grant allowed the negro to go wherever he 
pleased. Many slaves came into the lines and became servants to the 
officers, ready to black their boots, care for their horses, or making them- 
selves handy as cooks. He was thirteen years old, born in Kentucky, 
but for several years had lived near Dover. His master, he said, was a 
gentleman, owned twenty -four slaves. He had on a greasy shirt of 
snuff-coloured jean, the genuine negro cloth, such as one-half the South- 
ern army was compelled to wear. His slouched hat was tipped back 
upon his head, showing a countenance indicative of intelligence. 

" Well, my boy, what is your name," I asked. 

" Dick, massa." 

" Where do you live ? " 

" About fourteen miles from Dover, massa, up near de rollin' mill." 

" Is your master a Secessionist ? " 

" He was a Secesh, massa, but he be Union now. " 

This was correct testimony, the master appearing, with great boldness, 
at General Grant's headquarters to let it be known he was for the 
Union. 

" Are you a slave, Dick ? " 

" I was a slave, but I 's free now ; I 's 'fiscated." 

" Where were you when the fight was going on at Fort Donelson ?" 

" At home ; but when massa found de fort was took he started us all 
off for de Souf, but we got away and come down to Dover, and was 
'fiscated." 

The master was a Secessionist till his twenty-four chattels, which he 
was trying to run South, became perverse and veered to the North with 
much fleetness. Not only were those twenty-four started South, but ten 
times twenty -four, from the vicinity of Dover, and an hundred times 
twenty-four from Clarkesville, Nashville, and all along the Cumberland. 

Knowing that the breaking of the Confederate line on the Tennessee 
and Cumberland would be likely to be followed by a movement of the 
flotilla on the Mississippi, I hastened to Cairo, and accompanied Admiral 
Foote in his movement down the river. The Confederates could no 
longer hold Columbus. I had the pleasure of accompanying Captain 
Phelps, of the Benton, on shore, and assisting in raising the Stars and 
Stripes upon the Confederate fortifications. We were not the first, 
however, for a company of Union cavalry, scouting the country, learning 



110 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



that the Confederates had gone down the river to Island Number Ten 

had entered the town, to find it wholly deserted ' 

I made a hasty visit to the building that had been occupied by the 







I 
• -I 

v 






"I 's 'fiscated." 

Joimag the fleet again, we moved flown the river to the great bend a 
ereeted formidable batteries to dispute the passage of the fleet. 



OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN IN TENNESSEE. Ill 

It was past one o'clock in the afternoon of as beautiful a day as ever 
dawned upon the earth, when a ball of bunting went up to the top of 
the Benton's flagstaff, and fluttered out into the battle signal. Then 
came a flash, a belching of smoke from her bows, a roar and a reverber- 
ation rolling far away, — a screaming in the air, a tossing up of earth, 
and an explosion in the Confederate works. 

The highest artistic skill cannot portray the scene of that afternoon, 

— the flashes and flames, — the great white clouds, mounting above the 
boats, and floating majestically away over the dark gray forests, — the 
mortars throwing up vast columns of sulphurous cloud, which widen, 
expand, and roll forward in fantastic folds, — the shells one after 
another in swift succession rising, rotating, rushing upward and onward, 
sailing a thousand feet high, their course tracking a light gossamer 
trail, which becomes a beautiful parabola, and then the terrific explosion, 

— a flash, a handful of cloud, a strange whirring of the ragged 
fragments of iron hurled upwards, outwards, and downwards, crashing 
through the forests ! 

I was favoured with a position on the Silver Wave steamer, lying 
just above the Benton, her wheels slowly turning to keep her in position 
to run down and help the gunboats if by chance they were disabled. 
With my glass I could see all that took place in and around the nearest 
battery. Columns of water were thrown up by the shot from the gun- 
boats, like the first gush from the hose of a steam fire-engine, which 
falls in rainbow-coloured spray. There were little splashes in the stream 
when the fragments of shell dropped from the sky. Round shot 
skipped along the surface of the river, tearing through the Confederate 
works, filling the air with sticks, timbers, earth, and branches of trees, 
as if a thunderbolt had fallen. There were explosions followed by 
volumes of smoke rising from the ground like the mists of a summer 
morning. There was a hissing, crackling, and thundering explosion in 
front and rear and overhead. But there were plucky men in the fort, 
who at intervals came out from their bomb-proof, and sent back a 
defiant answer. There was a flash, a volume of smoke, a hissing as if 
a flying fiery serpent were sailing through the air, growing louder, 
clearer, nearer, more fearful and terrific, crashing into the Benton, 
tearing up the iron plating, cutting off beams, splintering planks, 
smashing the crockery in the pantry, and breaking up the Admiral's 
writing-desk. 

While the bombardment was at its height, I received a package of 



112 THE BOYS OF '61. 

letters, entrusted to my care. There was one postmarked from a town 
in Maine, directed to a sailor on the St. Louis. Jumping on board a 
tug, which was conveying ammunition to the gunboats, I visited the 
vessel to distribute the letters. A gun had burst during the action, 
killing and wounding several of the crew. It was a sad scene. There 
were the dead, — two of them killed instantly, and one of them the 
brave fellow from Maine. Captain Paulding opened the letter, and 
found it to be from one who had confided to the noble sailor her heart's 
affections — who was looking forward to the time when the war would 
be over, and they would be happy together as husband and wife. 

" Poor girl ! I shall have to write her sad news," said the captain. 

Day after day and night after night the siege was kept up, till it 
grew exceedingly monotonous. I became so accustomed to the pound- 
ing that, though the thirteen-inch mortars were not thirty rods distant 
from my quarters, I was not wakened by the tremendous explosions. 
Commodore Foote found it very difficult to fight down-stream, as the 
water was very high, flooding all the country. Colonel Bissell, of 
General Pope's army, proposed the cutting of a passage through the 
woods, to enable the gunboats to reach New Madrid. It was an Herculean 
undertaking. A light -draft transport was rigged for the enterprise. 
Machinery was attached to the donkey-engine of the steamer by which 
immense cottonwood trees were sawed off four feet under water. 

There was something very enchanting in the operation, — to steam 
out from the main river, over corn-fields and pasture lands, into the 
dark forests, threading a narrow and intricate channel, across the 
country, — past the rebel batteries. A transport was taken through, 
and a tugboat, but the channel was not deep enough for the gunboats. 

Captain Stembel, commanding the Benton, — a brave and competent 
officer, Commodore Foote's right-hand man, — proposed to run the 
batteries by night to New Madrid, capture the steamer which Pope had 
caught in a trap, then, turning head up-stream, take the batteries in 
reverse. The Commodore hesitated. He was cautious as well as brave. 
At length he accepted the plan, and sent the Pittsburg and Carondelet 
past the batteries at night. It was a bold undertaking, but accomplished 
without damage to the gunboats. The current was swift and strong, 
and they went with the speed of a race-horse. 

Their presence at New Madrid was hailed with joy by the troops. 
Four steamboats had worked their way through the canal. A regiment 
was taken on board each boat. The battery on the other side of the 



OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN IN TENNESSEE. 



113 



river at Watson's Landing was speedily silenced by the two gunboats. 
The troops landed, and under General Paine drove the Confederates 




CUTTING A PASSAGE THROUGH THE WOODS. 

from their camp, who fled in confusion, throwing away their guns, 
knapsacks, and clothing. 

General Pope sent over the balance of his troops, and with his whole 



114 THE BOYS OF '61. 

force moved upon General Mackall, who surrendered his entire com- 
mand, consisting of nearly seven thousand prisoners, one hundred and 
twenty-three guns, and an immense amount of supplies. 

The troops of General Paine's brigade came across a farmyard 
which was well stocked with poultry, and helped themselves. The 
farmer's wife visited the General's headquarters to enter a complaint. 

" They are stealing all my chickens, General ! I sha' n't have one 
left," she exclaimed, excitedly. 

" I am exceedingly sorry, ma'am," said the General, with great 
courtesy ; " but we are going to put down the rebellion if it takes 
every chicken in the State of Tennessee ! " 

The woman retired, evidently regarding the Yankees as a race of 
vandals. 



CHAPTER VI. 

PITTSBUKG LANDING, FORT PILLOW, AND MEMPHIS. 

THE battle of Pittsburg Landing or Shiloh, as it has been called, 
was fought April 6 and 7. I was not present, being with the 
fleet on the Mississippi at Island Number Ten, but upon learning of the 
battle made my way over to the scene of action, while yet the debris 
was on the field, learning from the officers and soldiers the incidents 
of the terrific conflict. 

After the success at Donelson the natural strategic movement on the 
part of the Union troops was up the Tennessee River, the Confederates 
under Albert Sidney Johnston having retreated to Corinth. General 
Buell was directed by the military authorities to advance in that direc- 
tion and join General Grant, who had selected Pittsburg Landing as a 
suitable locality for the concentration of his troops. 

On the part of the Confederates, troops were hurried from every section 
to Corinth. Beauregard was sent to the department, not superseding 
Johnston, but to aid him in organising a great army. 

Buell marched with much deliberation, giving orders that there should 
be six miles between the divisions of his army. Pittsburg Landing 
had some natural advantages for defence — Lick Creek entering the 
Tennessee at that point. 

Nothing was done toward strengthening the line ; no orders were 
issued in anticipation of a battle till the pickets were attacked on Sun- 
day morning, while the troops were cooking their coffee, and while 
many of the officers were in bed. 

Pittsburg is the nearest point to Corinth on the river. The road 
winds up the bank, passes along the edge of a deep ravine, leading 
southwest. It forks a half-mile from the Landing, the left-hand path 
leading to Hamburg up the river, and the main road leading to Shiloh 
Church, four miles from the Landing — a little log building with 
primitive seats, its walls chinked with clay. 

A brook meanders through the forest, furnishing water for the wor- 

115 



116 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



shipping assemblies. South of the church, and across the brook, is a 
clearing, — an old farmhouse where Beauregard wrote his despatch to 
Jeff Davis on Sunday night, announcing a great victory. There are 
other little clearings, which have been long under cultivation. The 
people were too indolent to make new openings in the forest, where 
centuries of mould had accumulated. The country was but little further 

advanced than when Daniel 
Boone passed through the Cum- 
berland Gap. Civilisation came 
and made a beginning ; but the 
blight of slavery was there. 
Within four miles of one of 
the most beautiful rivers in the 
world, — in a country needing 
only industry to make a par- 
adise, — the mourning dove 
filled the air with its plaintive 
notes in the depths of an almost 
unbroken forest, while the few 
people were shiftless and desti- 
tute of the comforts of civilisa- 
tion. 

To General Sherman more 
than to any division commander 
is credit due for the victory at 
Pittsburg Landing. When the 
first volley of musketry rever- 
berated through the forest on 
Sunday morning he leaped into 
his saddle. He was conspicuous everywhere, riding along the lines 
regardless of the bullets which riddled his clothes. Early in the battle 
he was wounded in the wrist, but, wrapping a bandage round his arm, 
continued in the field. Three horses were shot under him. He was a 
conspicuous mark for the rebel riflemen. His fearless example was 
inspiring to the men. And so through the long hours of the day he 
was able to hold his position by the church, till the giving way of 
Prentiss and Hurlbut, nearer the river, made it necessary to fall back. 
Here Grant exhibited those qualities of character which have made him 
the great military commander of the age. " We will beat them yet. 




LIEUT.-GEN. ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON, C. S. A. 






PITTSBURG LANDING, FORT PILLOW, AND MEMPHIS. 



117 



They can't pass this ravine," were his words of encouragement as he 
selected the final line, leading to the landing. The contest was virtu- 
ally decided at five o'clock on Sunday afternoon, when Breckenridge 
attempted to cross the gorge near the river and was hurled back with 
great loss. 

Confederate historians have maintained that the death of Albert 
Sidney Johnston, near nightfall, was a 
fatality which turned the tide of battle 
against the Confederates ; the news 
quickly spread and brought on gloom 
and despondency among the troops. 

A study of the battle leads us to a 
different conclusion. The line of bat- 
teries improvised along the northern 
bank of the ravine — the compacting of 
Grant's lines — presented a barrier which 
the Confederates could not face. The 
Confederates had made an all night's 
march — fought from daybreak till night 
closed the contest. They were weary, 
had become, in fact, disorganised by 
breaking ranks to seize the plunder found 
in the Union camps. They were in no 
condition to charge upon Grant's line at 
sundown. More than this, Nelson's di- 
vision of Buell's army had arrived and 

Lew Wallace's fresh division from Crump's Landing was near at hand. 
The battle was lost to the Confederates when the advancing lines 
quailed before Grant's batteries along the ravine, a great mistake 
in attacking at a point within reach of the gunboats. Had they 
come in on the Purdy road, between Shiloh Church and Crump's 
Landing, in all human probability there would have been a far different 
record for the historians of the future. Had they attacked northwest 
of the church instead of south of it, they would have taken Grant 
in reverse, and forced him to change the whole front of his army ; 
they would have had no ravine to cross, would have been beyond 
reach of the gunboats, and would have stood a fair chance of cutting off 
Lew Wallace, who was at Crump's Landing, from all connection with 
the main army. 




MAJ.-GEN. DON CARLOS BUELL. 



118 THE BOYS OF '61. 

The defeat was decisive, and yet Beauregard sent the following 
despatch to Richmond : 

" Corinth, April 8, 1862. 
" To the Secretary of War at Richmond : — 

" We have gained a great and glorious victory. Eight to ten thousand 
prisoners, and thirty-six pieces of cannon. Buell reinforced Grant, and 
we retired to our entrenchments at Corinth, which we can hold. Loss 
heavy on both sides. 

" Beauregard." 

On the same day he sent a flag of truce to General Grant with the 
following message, also asking leave to bury the Confederate dead : 

" Sir, at the close of the conflict yesterday, my forces being exhausted 
by the extraordinary length of the time during which they were engaged 
with yours on that and the preceding day, and it being apparent that 
you had received and were still receiving reinforcement, I felt it my duty 
to withdraw my troops from the immediate scene of the conflict." 

From Shiloh to the close of the war, Beauregard's popularity was on 
the wane, and the Southern people lost confidence in him. 

Riding over the field and through the woods, I found abundant evi- 
dence that the defeat was most disastrous, — that their retreat was hasty. 
Blankets, knapsacks, haversacks, here and there muskets, wagons, one 
overturned in a slough, one with its tongue broken, tents, harnesses, oats, 
corn, flour, tent-poles, were confusedly scattered along the way. The 
carcasses of dead horses tainted the air. There were piles of earth newly 
heaped above those who died from their wounds. They fled in a fright 
on Monday night. I came unexpectedly upon a little log-hut, on a by- 
path leading toward Monterey. Two of McCook's cavalry rode up in 
advance of me. A widow woman, middle-aged, with a little girl and 
two little boys, occupied it. She kindly gave me a drink of water, and 
informed me that there were three Confederate wounded in the other 
room. I looked in upon them for a moment. Suffering had wasted 
them, and they had no disposition to talk of the past or the future. 
The good woman had been kind to them, but she had seen a great deal 
of sorrow. On Monday night one hundred wounded were brought to 
her house. Her two horses had been seized, her corn eaten, and no 






PITTSBURG LANDING, FORT PILLOW, AND MEMPHIS. 



119 



equivalent returned. She conversed unreservedly; deplored the war, 
and wished it over. There were seven new-made graves in her garden, 
and in her dooryard a heap of cinders and ashes, and charred brands, — 
fragments of wagons and tent-poles. On the upper Corinth road fifty 

wounded were lying, 
cared for by our sur- 
geons. 

I recall some of the 
scenes of the movement 
upon Corinth. Here is 
an open forest, undulat- 




COMMISSARY WAGONS IN THE MUD. 



ing land with little or no underbrush ; thousands of wagons, all 
plodding on, not in slow, easy motion, but by fits and starts, with 
cutting, slashing, shouting, swearing, a chorus of profanity resounding 
through the forests. A mule sticks fast, he tumbles, his mate falls 



120 THE BOYS OF '61. 

upon him. The drivers become enraged ; then follows a general 
melee, a long halt, frantic attempts to start again, an unloading and 
reloading. Other trains in the rear, tired of waiting, turn to the right 
or left, perhaps to pass the little slough safely, only to meet with a sim- 
ilar mishap ten rods farther along. A battery struggles along, with 
twelve horses attached to a single piece of artillery. The entire forest 
is cut up by passing teams. Mingled with the thousands of wagons are 
regiments. They, too, are in confusion. Buell's and Grant's forces 
have become mixed. The divisions have been ordered to move, but 
evidently with no pre-arranged system. As far as the eye can see it is 
one grand hurly-burly, — one frantic struggle to make headway, — and 
this for a half-dozen miles. What a waste of horse-flesh ! Here are six 
mules attempting to draw six boxes of bread, — weight, perhaps, six 
hundred pounds. The cavalry bring out their supplies on horses, each 
cavalryman bringing a bag of oats. There is cursing, swearing, pound- 
ing. The army in Flanders could not have been more profane. The 
brutality of the drivers is terrible. A miserable fellow, destitute of 
sense and humanity, strikes a mule over the head, felling the animal to 
the ground. Noble horses are remorsely cut up by these fiendish beings 
in human form. There is no check upon their cruelty. You see dead 
horses everywhere. All the finer sensibilities • become callous. One 
must see, but not feel. There would be pleasure in snatching a whip 
from the hands of these savages and giving them a dose of their own 
medicine. 

General Halleck came and assumed command. He advanced with 
extreme caution. He built four lines of breastworks, each line nearly 
ten miles long, so that if driven from one he could fall back to another. 
He sunk deep wells for water, as if preparing to be besieged instead of 
opening a siege. 

General Grant was second in command with nothing to do. Halleck 
ignored his presence. No orders were issued to him. Doubtless the 
success of Grant at Donelson, his advancement in the estimation of the 
people, led Halleck to issue orders which hampered Grant in his move- 
ments. Grant had been surprised at Shiloh ; had repulsed the enemy, 
and won the victory, but had been relegated by Halleck to a subordinate 
position. 

I visited the various divisions of the united armies, and observed 
their discipline. That commanded by General Garfield attracted my 
attention for its morale, which was far superior to many others. He had 



PITTSBURG LANDING, FORT PILLOW, AND MEMPHIS. 



121 



broken the Confederate line in eastern Kentucky and was displaying 

marked qualities as a leader of men. 

Some of the brigades were in the woods, sheltered from the May sun 

by the tall trees, others were located in the fields, from which the last 

year's cotton had not been 

gathered. 

The Confederate Govern- 
ment was laying its hands 

upon the able-bodied men, 

and the negroes were making 

their way into the Union lines. 

There were none to speed 

the plough. The videttes of 

the two armies were on 

speaking terms. The Union 

troops gave the Confeder- 
ates a little coffee now and 

then and received plugs of 

tobacco in return. They 

drank out of the same can- 
teen. One of the pickets 
handed me a Memphis paper, 
which contained an editorial 
that awakened inquiries as 
to its meaning. It warned 
military commanders that 
the public would hold them 
responsible were they to give 
up any important point with- 
out a battle. What could 
be the meaning of it? Reading between the lines, listening to the 
rumbling trains, I interpreted it as meaning the evacuation of Corinth. 
Returning to camp, I handed the paper to Gen. Lew Wallace, who said, 
" Take that up to General Grant." Calling upon that officer, I found 
him sitting moodily in his tent, with nothing to do. He read the arti- 
cle, and without making any comment passed it to his chief -of -staff, 
Adjutant-General Rawlins. 

" That means that they are going to abandon Corinth," he said, after 
reading it. " I wish you would take that to General Halleck," he said. 




MAJOR- GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



122 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



The commander of the department received me courteously, but 
gruffly. He did not like newspaper correspondents, but was too much 
of a gentleman to be discourteous. 

" Pooh ! " he exclaimed, after reading the article. " That is a blind. 
Instead of evacuating Corinth, troops are arriving. Beauregard has one 
hundred thousand men." 

He doubted all the reports of his scouts, — disbelieved the stories of 
negroes who came to him, — issued Order No. 57, that all " unauthor- 




" NONE TO SPEED THE PLOUGH. 

ised persons " in his lines should be sent out, especially fugitive slaves 
and correspondents, — threw up redoubts, dragged his heavy siege-guns 
through the mud from the Landing, — planted them behind sodded 
earthworks, erected bomb-proof magazines, — issued his final orders to 
his army of an hundred thousand men, — opened fire from his heavy 
guns, — threw forward his skirmishers, and found — a deserted town! 

Joining the fleet upon the Mississippi once more on the 3d of June, I 
found Commodore Davis in command, Admiral Foote having been 
relieved at his own request. His wound received at Donelson was pain- 
ful, and he was so debilitated that he was unable to discharge his duties. 
The idea was generally entertained that the Confederates had evacuated 



PITTSBURG LANDING, FORT PILLOW, AND MEMPHIS. 



123 



Fort Pillow. The evacuation of Corinth was the basis for expectation 
of such an event. Fires were seen over the point on the bluffs and 
beyond, toward Randolph. Of course no one could say what was burn- 
ing, but it was reasonable to suppose that the evacuation had taken 
place, inasmuch as there was an ominous silence of rebel batter- 
ies. But they suddenly waked up. Ascending to the pilot-house of the 
steamer, I could see handfuls of white cloud above and beyond the dense 




SIEGE GUNS READY TO OPEN FIRE AT CORINTH. 

foliage of the forest. Then there came a dull, heavy roar, — boom — 
boom — boom, — and the nearer explosion of the shells which burst in 
the air above our gunboats. 

This sudden and unexpected demonstration aroused Captain Mayna- 
dier, commanding the mortar fleet, and right merrily answered the 
mortars till noon. Then there was a respite, while the mortar crews 
sat down beneath the dark green foliage of the forest, sheltered from 
the burning sun, and ate their rations, and rested the while. 

Seven or eight miles below Craighead Point is Lanier's plantation. 
The proprietor being a Secessionist, burned his cotton, but for some 



124 THE BOYS OF '61. 

cause he had lost faith, or pretended to lose faith, in the Confederacy, 
and desired to be permitted to return to his comfortable home, there to 
remain unmolested. He sent a note to Colonel Fitch, commanding the 
land forces, soliciting an interview. His request was granted, and he 
so ingratiated himself into Colonel Fitch's good feeling that he became 
again an occupant of his homestead. 

Subsequently it was ascertained that he was supplying the Confed- 
erate fleet with ice, spring chickens, garden vegetables, etc. It was 
decided to spring a trap upon the gentlemen of the Southern navy. A 
small party was sent out by Colonel Fitch, which reached the locality 
undiscovered. After a few minutes' reconnoissance, eight men were 
discovered helping themselves to ice in Mr. Lanier's ice-cellar. They 
were surprised. One resisted, but was shot, and the rest, after a short 
parleying, surrendered. They were brought to the Benton, but were 
very uncommunicative and sour. 

The loss of a lieutenant and seven men was not well relished at Fort 
Pillow. Soon after noon the guns on the bluff commenced a vigorous 
but random fire, as if ammunition cost nothing, and it were mere pas- 
time to burn powder and hurl shell over the point at our fleet. It 
was interesting to see the round shot plump into the water all around 
our gunboats, with an occasional shell puffing into cloud overhead, and 
raining fragments of iron into the river, — for with such random firing, 
there was but little danger of being hit. 

The day had been hot and sultry, but just before nightfall a huge 
bank of clouds rolled up in the western horizon, and burst with the fury 
of a tornado upon the fleet. Some of the transports dragged their 
anchors before the gale. There was but little rain, but a dense cloud 
of dust was whirled up from the sandbars. 

I was surprised to see, when the storm was at its height, two of our 
rams steam rapidly down to the point and turn their prows towards the 
Confederate batteries. They disappeared in the whirling dust- cloud, 
vanishing from sight like ships at sea when night comes on. 

Their mission, at such a moment, was to take advantage of the storm, 
— of the enveloping dust-cloud, — to ascertain what the Confederates 
were doing. We could hear the sudden waking up of heavy guns. The 
rams were discovered, and at once the batteries were in a blaze. Then 
they quietly steamed across the bend, in face of the batteries, turned 
their prows up-stream, and appeared in sight once more. The Con- 
federate cannon belched and thundered, firing shot at random into the 



PITTSBURG LANDING, FORT PILLOW, AND MEMPHIS. 125 

river. Bang — bang — bang, — two or three at a time, — roared the 
guns. It was amusing, laughable, to see the rams returning, and hear 
the uproar below. 

The dust-cloud, with its fine, misty rain, rolled away. The sun shone 
once more, and bridged the Mississippi with a gorgeous rainbow. 
While admiring it, a Confederate gunboat poked her nose around the 
point. Then, after a little hesitancy, her entire body, to see what we 
were up to. Seeing how far off we were, she steamed boldly past the 
point, up-stream far enough to get a sight of the entire Federal fleet ; 
turned slowly, placed her head downward, to be ready for a quick run 
home, if need be ; then turned- her paddles against the current, and sur- 
veyed us leisurely. The Mound City and Cairo being nearest, opened 
fire upon the craft. A signal was run up from the Benton, and imme- 
diately from the chimneys of the entire fleet rose heavy columns of 
blackest smoke, which mingled with the white puffs of steam, and rolled 
away into the blackness of the receding storm. 

At sunset on the 4th of June, the Confederate batteries opened a 
fierce and sudden fire upon the gunboats. Then there came heavy 
explosions, rising columns of smoke, faint and white at first, but increas- 
ing in volume and blackness. Another, — a third, a fourth, — expand- 
ing into one broad column, all along the height occupied by the 
batteries. Daylight was fading away, the lurid flames filled the south- 
ern sky, and a heaving, surging bank of smoke and flame laid along the 
treetops of the intervening forest. Occasionally there were flashes and 
faint explosions, and sudden puffs of smoke, spreading out like flakes of 
cotton or fleeces of whitest wool. This was all we could see. We were 
ignorant of what was feeding the flames, whether steamers or bales of 
cotton, or barracks, or tents, or houses, but we were sure that it was a 
burning of that which had cost a pile of Confederate notes. After tak- 
ing possession of the works in the morning, the fleet pursued the 
retreating enemy down the river. 

It was past noon and I was dining with Admiral Davis in the cabin 
of the flagship, when an orderly entered and touched his cap. 

" There 's a Confederate steamer ahead, sir," he said. 

Leaving our chairs and climbing to the upper deck, we saw a river 
steamer a mile away, attempting to turn her prow down-stream. 

Suddenly the thirty-pound rifled cannon, whose muzzle was less than 
eight feet below me, belched with a roar that made my ears crack. My 
eyes followed the missile's flight. It was well aimed and went plump 



126 THE BOYS OF '61. 

through the upper works of the steamer, boring a six-inch hole as with 
an auger. Before the gunners could ram home a second projectile, the 
steamer disappeared behind a bend. 

" Send a boat through the chute and cut her off," said some one. 

" The chute ! yes, the chute ! " shouted a chorus of voices. It was but 
the work of a moment to transfer a boat's howitzer and crew to a tug, 
which went puffing and blowing through the shorter passage, reaching 
the lower bend in season to prevent the escape of the steamer. 

The flagship was soon alongside. Going on board, I found only a 
negro, the cook. The Confederates had leaped on shore, leaving the 
dark-hued chattel to gain his freedom by falling into the hands of the 
Yankees. His mouth was stretched from ear to ear with joy over the 
unexpected happiness. 

" I think, possibly, we shall have a brush with the enemy's fleet in the 
morning," said Admiral Davis. 

My quarters, as were those of the other correspondents connected 
with the St. Louis, Cincinnati, Chicago, and New York papers, were on 
the commissary boat of the fleet. 

I do not know that I enjoyed any superior advantage over my fellow 
correspondents. The officers of the fleet were exceedingly courteous to all, 
but Commodore Davis's home was in Cambridge, but a stone's throw 
from Harvard College, and he had invited me to accompany him on the 
trip in pursuit of the retreating fleet. 

" I shall send my despatch boat to the commissary boat at an early 
hour in the morning ; will you please inform your fellow correspondents 
of the fact and say to them they are at liberty to step on board and see 
whatever may happen," said the commander, as I bade him good 
evening. 

Possibly the courtesy extended me was not altogether relished by my 
friends of the press. The message was not kindly received by one or 
more, who could not let the opportunity slip of giving a fling at 
Boston. 

Daylight was streaming up the east the following morning, when the 
admiral's boat came puffing alongside the commissary steamer. 

With note-book in hand 1 stepped on board, — the only member of the 
newspaper fraternity awake and ready at that moment. 

The air was clear, — the sky without a cloud. The stars were fading 
in the west, and the columns of light were rising in the east as we 
rounded the bend above the city of Memphis. The gunboats — five of 



PITTSBURG LANDING, FORT PILLOW, AND MEMPHIS. 127 

them — were in a line across the stream, with the steam escaping from 
their pipes. The city was in full view. People were gathering upon the 
banks gazing upon the fleet. A dark column of smoke rose from above 
the green foliage of the forest opposite the city, but whether produced by 
burning buildings, or by the rebel fleet, was wholly a matter of 
conjecture. 

The soldiers were heaving the anchors as we approached the fleet, 
shouting in chorus, " Yeave ho ! yeave ho ! " The drummer boys were 
beating to quarters, the marines were mustering, officers and sailors all 
were busy. 

The commodore was standing on the upper deck with Captain Phelps, 
commanding the Benton, by his side. The commodore was a tall, well- 
proportioned man, about fifty years old, with gray hair and blue eyes, a 
perfect gentleman, — - kind, courteous, and affable, not only to his officers, 
but to the crews. Captain Phelps was shorter and smaller in stature, 
his features sharply cut. He stood erect, looking upon the preparations 
with keen eyes, giving orders with precision and promptness. The 
Benton in a few moments was ready for action, so quickly were his 
orders executed. 

" Drop down toward the city, sir, and see if you can discover the 
rebel fleet," was the order of the commander to our captain. 

We passed through the fleet, and moved slowly down-stream, followed 
by the Benton and Carondelet, drifting with the current. 

The sun was beginning to gild the spires of the city, and its slant 
rays came streaming over the waters into our faces. Men, women, and 
children were gathering upon the levee, on foot, on horseback, and in 
carriages. Every moment the crowd became more dense. Were they 
assembling to welcome us ? Should we steam down to them, and ask 
them what they thought of the Rebellion? A Confederate flag was 
flying from the cupola of the court-house, and another from a tall flag- 
staff on the levee. I remembered that on the 6th of May, thirteen 
months before, on the evening after the secession of the State, the 
people had torn down the Stars and Stripes, borne them out to the 
suburbs of the city, dug a grave, and buried the flag, trampling it in 
the mire ! 

Suddenly a gunboat steamed out into the stream, from the shelter 
of the Arkansas woods; — another, — another, — till eight had ranged 
'.hemselves in two lines of battle. " Helm aport ! " shouted our captain 
;o the wheelman, and we were rushing up-stream again. The commo- 



128 THE BOYS OF '61. 

dore was not quite ready for action, and the Benton and Carondelet 
returned to their original position. 

The appearance of the Confederate fleet, — the orderly formation of 
the battle line, — looked like work. The affair of the 10th of May, 
when the Confederate gunboats stole round Craighead Point above 
Fort Pillow, and sunk the Cincinnati, was sufficiently spirited to warrant 
the supposition that an engagement would be desperate. Several of the 
boats of the enemy had been fitted out at Memphis, and were manned 
by the old rivermen of that city, who would fight with great bravery 
under the eyes of their fellow citizens, their wives, and sweethearts. 

" Let the sailors have breakfast," said the commodore, who believed 
in fighting on a full stomach. I took mine on deck, — a cup of coffee, 
hardtack, and a slice of salt junk, — for the movements in front of the 
city were too interesting to be lost sight of. The Little Rebel, the flag- 
ship of Commodore Montgomery, was passing from boat to boat. Mont- 
gomery was issuing his final orders. 

Suddenly the Confederate fleet began to move slowly up-stream. A 
flag went up to the head of the Benton's flagstaff. It was the signal to 
be ready for action. Sailors dropped their plates, knives, and forks, and 
sprang to their guns. The Benton was nearest the Tennessee shore, 
then the Carondelet, the St. Louis, Louisville, and Cairo. Our own 
little tug was close by the flag-ship, keeping its place in the stream by 
the slow working of its engine. 

The Confederate fleet was composed of the Van Dorn, General 
General Bragg, Jeff Thompson, General Lovell, General Beau 
Sumter, and Little Rebel, all gunboats and all rams, built express 
a view of butting our fleet out of existence. The Beauregard was 
the shore, next the Little Rebel, then the General Price, next the ( 
Bragg, and the General Beauregard, which composed the froi 
Immediately in rear General Lovell, near the Memphis shore, he 
tion being directly in front of the city wharf boat; next the Va% 
then the Jeff Thompson, and lastly the Sumter. 

How strange, peculiar, and indescribable are one's feelings wher 
into battle! There is a light -heartedness, — a quickening of a 
springs of life, — a thrill in every nerve, — an exhilaration of sp 
a tension of every fibre. You see every movement, hear every 
and think not only of what is before you, but of home, of the love 
there, — of the possibility that you may never behold them again, 
men review their lives, and ask themselves if they have left an) 



PITTSBUKG LANDING, FORT PILLOW, AND MEMPHIS. 129 

undone which ought to have been done, — if their lives have been 
complete. 

The Little Rebel was opposite the Benton. There was a flash, — a 
puff of smoke from her side, — a screaming of something unseen in the 
air over my head, — a frightful sound. The shot fell far in our rear. 
Another puff from the Beauregard, and the shot fell near the Benton. 
A third came from the General Price, aimed at the Carondelet, passed 
very near her larboard ports, and almost took our own boat in the bow. 
My fear was all gone. I was in the fight. There was no possibility of 
escaping from it. Wherever the boat went I must go. I should be 
just as safe to keep cool as to be excited. Besides, it was a new experi- 
ence, — a new sight, — a grand exhibition. Interest, curiosity, and 
reason mastered fear. I sat down in an arm chair on the deck beside 
the pilot-house, and made rapid notes of all that I saw. I transcribe 
them: 

5.40 a. m. Cairo opens with a stern gun — shot strikes close under 
hull of Little Rebel. Our boats' bows up-stream. Rebels advancing 
slowly. Bang — bang — bang — bang from each of the vessels. A 
whole broadside from Cairo. Another from Louisville. Air full of 
strange noises. Shells burst overhead. Pieces raining all round us. 
Columns of water tossed up. Both fleets enveloped in smoke. Very 
little wind. Splinters thrown out from General Price. Can see a shot- 
hole with my glass. Rebel fleet half-mile distant. Comes to a stand- 
still. 6.00. Queen of the West cutting loose from shore. Monarch also. 
Great black clouds of smoke rolling up from their stacks. Steam hiss- 
ing from their pipes. Commodore Ellet on the Queen. Stands beside 
the pilot-house. Sharpshooters looking from loop-holes. 

Queen wheels out into stream. Passes between Benton and Carondelet. 
Are near enough to say good-morning to Commodore Ellet and wish him 
success. Monarch following Queen, passing between Cairo and St. Louis. 
6.25. Rebels moving down-stream. 6.35. Signal from Benton to round 
to and come to close quarters. Queen surging ahead under full speed. 
Ploughs a wide furrow. Aiming for Beauregard. Rebel fleet all open- 
ing on her. Shot crash through her. Exciting scene. Sharpshooters 
at work. Beauregard puts her helm down. Sheers off. Queen rushes 
by. Has missed her aim. Coming round in a curve. Strikes the 
General Price. Tremendous crash. Men jumping into water. Beaure- 
gard falling upon Queen of the West. Another crash. 

Monarch close at hand. Smashes into Beauregard. Cracking of 



130 THE BOYS OF '61. 

rifles and muskets. Queen of the West sinking. Monarch throwing out 
a warp. Towing her ashore. Benton close upon the General Lovell. 
Shot strikes Lovell in bow. Rips from stem to stern. Water full of 
timber and fragments. Lovell sinking. Man on deck. Left arm shat- 
tered, crying " Help ! help ! help ! " Commotion on shore. Lovell goes 
down with a lurch. The battle was over. The river was full of men 
struggling for their lives. The stream was sweeping them away. The 
Little Rebel was fleeing for the Arkansas shore, the Jeff Thompson was 
on fire, the Beauregard sinking. 

Our boat ran alongside the latter. A piteous spectacle met my eyes. 
Confederates with ghastly wounds were stretched upon the deck, the 
side of the vessel spattered with their blood. One wounded officer looked 
up to us with a piteous appeal. In a moment I was on board, also the 
captain of our boat. The Confederate vessel was sinking — the water 
pouring in through the holes made by the balls. Together we lifted 
him on board our boat. A moment later the Confederate craft was at 
the bottom of the river. 

" You are kinder to me than were my fellow comrades, for one of 
them was mean enough to steal my watch and pick my pocket," he said. 

Running alongside the Confederate flag-ship, I was reaching out my 
hand to grasp the halyards of the flag when an officer seized them. A 
second sooner and I would have obtained the trophy. 

The Jeff Thompson was burning the while, suddenly timbers, engines, 
burning planks were lifted high in the air and the fragments were 
rained down around us. 

The battle was over, the Confederate fleet annihilated, all the vessels 
except one captured or destroyed. It was the glory of the engagement 
that the sailors of the Benton jumped into their boats and saved several 
of the Confederates from drowning. 

The Confederate fleet began the action in good style, but maintained 
the line of battle a few minutes only. The appearance of the rams 
threw them into disorder. On the other hand, the line of battle taken 
by Commodore Davis was preserved to the end. Everything was as 
systematic and orderly as in a well-regulated household. The thought 
occurred, as I saw the steady onward movement of the fleet, which, 
after once starting, did not for an instant slacken speed, that it was clear- 
ing the river of all obstructions with the same ease that a housewife 
sweeps dirt through a doorway. His orders were few. The main thing 
was to get to close quarters. 



PITTSBURG LANDING, FORT PILLOW, AND MEMPHIS. 131 

The commodore commissioned Captain Phelps to take possession of 
the city, and kindly gave me permission to accompany him to the shore. 
We stepped into a small boat and were rowed to the land, where stood 
the mayor, holding up a white handkerchief, with an excited crowd 
around him. Some looked exceedingly sour ; others disconsolate ; a few 
were defiant ; many of the citizens were good-natured, but deeply humil- 
iated. A gentleman, resident of the city, informed me that he did not 
think the people cared anything about the Union, or had any desire to 
return to it, but they had an intense hatred of the tyranny to which they 
had been subjected, and were ready to welcome anything which would 
relieve them. 

The Avalanche of that morning, hardly issued when the conflict 
began, said : 

" There was not a little excitement about the levee last night, occa- 
sioned by an officer coining down in a skiff announcing that three of the 
Federal gunboats were in the ' shute ' above the Island. The signals 
and movements of the boats seemed to confirm the report, but we have 
no idea that it was true. 

" Yesterday was quite lively. All reports about Fort Pillow were 
listened to with interest, and they were not a few. By noon it was 
known that the fort was evacuated, and there was not a little excitement 
in consequence. Nearly all the stores were closed, and those that were 
open, with few exceptions, were rather indisposed to sell. Even a spool 
of cotton could not be had yesterday in stores which the day before had 
plenty and to spare. Besides the soldiers from Fort Pillow a fleet 
made us a visit which attracted much attention and formed the subject 
of general conversation. All seemed to regret what had been done and 
wished it were otherwise. So prevailing was the excitement that the 
common mode of salutation on Main Street was, ' When do you think 
the Federals will be here ? ' Each one made arrangements according to 
the tenor of the reply. Many persons were packing up to leave. 

" In a word, all who could began to consider anxiously the question 
whether to go or stay. There was much running about on the streets, 
and evidently more or less excitement on every countenance. Some 
took matters coolly, and still believe that the Federals will never go to 
Memphis by river. All obstructions to their progress have not been 
removed and probably will not be. In fact, the prospect is very good 
for a grand naval engagement, which shall eclipse anything ever seen 
before. There are many who would like the engagement to occur, who 



132 THE BOYS OF '61. 

do not much relish the prospect of its occurring very near the city. 
They think deeper water and scope and verge enough for such an en- 
counter may be found farther up the river. All, however, are rejoiced 
that Memphis will not fall till conclusions are first tried on water and 
at the cannon's mouth." 

The " conclusions " had been tried and the people had seen their fleet 
unceremoniously knocked to pieces. 

There were thousands of negroes on the levee, interested spectators 
of the scene. I asked one athletic man what he thought of it ? " O 
massa, I tinks a good deal of it. Uncle Abe's boats mighty powerful. 
Dey go through our boats jus lik dey was eggshells." Another one 
standing by at once became interested in the conversation. Said he, 
" Captain Jeff Thompson, he cotch it dis time ! He ! hi ! how de 
balls did whiz ! " There was an unmistakable sign of pleasure on the 
countenances of the coloured population. 

In fifteen minutes after the occupation of the city, enterprising news- 
boys accompanying the fleet were crying, " Here's the New York 
Herald ! Times and Tribune ! Chicago and St. Louis papers ! " 






CHAPTER VII. 

INVASION OF MARYLAND. 

WORN down by the hardships of the campaign in Tennessee and on 
the Mississippi, with malaria in my blood, I returned East, arriv- 
ing in Boston on a bright June morning. 

" You must take the next train for Virginia," said the proprietor of 
the Boston Journal. 

The correspondent sent to the Army of the Potomac during my 
absence in the West had succumbed to the hardships of camp life and 
the readers of the paper were dependent upon other journals for 
information. 

I hastened to Washington to find myself debarred from reaching the 
army by the War Department. It was the week of disasters to General 
McClellan, during which were fought the battles of Gaines' Mills, Savage 
Station, White Oak Swamp, and Malvern Hill. Upon inquiring why I 
could not as an accredited correspondent join the Army of the Potomac 
once more, I was informed that the army was short of provisions and 
the department did not want any more men who were not soldiers about 
the camp. The answer was a subterfuge. General Halleck had been 
called from the West to be military adviser. He had attempted to 
drive the correspondents from the army in Tennessee, and doubtless 
was somewhat sensitive over the criticisms of the press upon his slow- 
ness in advancing upon Corinth, and finding, instead of a great army 
confronting him, a deserted town. 

But the insatiate public must have information ; if I could not obtain 
news from personal observation it must be had second-hand. Baltimore, 
rather than Washington, was the focal point, there being daily communi- 
cation by steamers between that city and Fortress Monroe. I hastened 
to that city, took quarters at the Eutaw House to find a jostling crowd 
of army contractors, speculators, sutlers, commissaries, a Babel of 
voices. It was not difficult to see that many faces in Baltimore bright- 
ened over the news of disaster to the Army of the Potomac. The fires 
of Secession were kindling once more. Men and women whose sym- 

133 



134 / THE BOYS OF '61. 

pathi'es were with the South rejoiced at the outcome of the seven days' 
fighting, the forced retreat of McClellan to the protection of the 
'gunboats in James River. 

The boat from Fortress Monroe was due at eight o'clock in the morn- 
ing. I stood upon the pier and beheld the steamer, its decks swarming 
with men — soldiers, officers, civilians — as it swept to its accustomed 
landing. 

Amid the crowd I spied a man whom I thought might possibly be a 
correspondent. 

" Yes, I am a correspondent of a New York paper," he said, in 
response to my inquiry. 

" I will sell you my information for fifty dollars," he added. 

" Very well, I will give it if you have anything definite. Begin with 
the first battle and go through to the end." 

Two minutes' questioning was sufficient to enlighten me as to his 
calling, — that of a sutler, who knew nothing as to what had taken 
place. 

The bell of the locomotive was clanging in the railroad station and 
the train just ready to start for New York. I was sure that among the 
many men wearing uniforms I should find here and there one who could 
give me some information. I was not disappointed. Going through the 
train, I found several who could tell me what they had seen. By the 
time the train reached New York, my note -book was well filled. 
Through the night this pen was at work, and the morning trains 
carried this information to Boston, thus putting the people of New 
England on a footing with those of the metropolis in the reception of 
news from the seat of war. It was not a description from personal 
observation, but after a third of a century the account of the movements 
of the army, from the first battle at Gaines' Mills, where Stonewall Jack- 
son after his march from the Shenandoah fell upon McClellan's divided 
army in conjunction with Lee, to the defeat of the Confederates at 
Malvern Hill, is, in the main, correct. Very early in the war I learned 
that unremitting vigilance and energy must be exercised in obtaining 
and transmitting information for the public. More than this, I learned 
that a correspondent must exercise a wise discrimination in judging be- 
tween what was true and what false. Officers of the line saw only what 
took place around them. Colonels were confident that their individual 
regiments were especially brave, brigadiers assured me that their com- 
mands broke the enemy's line, major-generals detailed the movements 



INVASION OF MARYLAND. 137 

of their divisions and informed me that the achievements of their troops 
were the main features in the engagements. It is not strange that the 
reports were conflicting or irreconcilable. Few officers took any note 
of time in a battle. Few can tell just about what orders were issued or 
what movements were made, amid the noise, the rolls of musketry, the 
thundering of cannon, the bursting of shells, the cries of the wounded 
and dying. Men's brains are in a whirl. A commander of a division 
must not only keep watch of his own men, but must be keenly alive to 
all the movements of the enemy. When it is all over, when the excite- 
ment is gone, it is only a confused and haunting memory of what has 
taken place. A correspondent must hear all the stories, and exercise 
his judgment as to the probabilities. 

Debarred from joining the army, which had retreated to Harrison's 
Landing on James River, I waited for whatever might take place. The 
authorities at Washington, apprehending that the Confederates might 
make a movement towards the capital, summoned Major-General John 
Pope from the West to gather up the troops in and around the capital. 
I had made the acquaintance of General Pope in the advance upon 
Corinth. In assuming command he made a grave mistake by issuing a 
proclamation which reflected somewhat upon the Eastern soldiers. His 
headquarters were in the saddle. It was bombastic, and made it im- 
possible for him to win the confidence of the men whom he was to 
command. His army had no coherence. He took command at Cul- 
peper. Then came the rapid march of Stonewall Jackson, gaining 
Pope's rear, and the second Manassas conflict, the withdrawal of the 
Army of the Potomac from James River, the concentration of troops in 
and around Washington. 

Day after day the booming of cannon had been heard, borne by the 
breezes along the wooded valley of the Potomac ; far away at first, then 
nearer at Chantilly and Fairfax Courthouse. Then came the stream of 
fugitives, the broken, disheartened ranks back to Arlington. The 
streets of Washington were thick with hungry, war-worn men. Long 
lines of ambulances wended into the city, with wounded for the hospi- 
tals, already overcrowded. The soldiers had pitiful tales to tell of the 
scenes of the Peninsula, and of the gory field of Manassas, — how near 
they came to victory, — how Hooker and Heintzelman rolled back the 
lines of Stonewall Jackson, — how Fitz John Porter lingered within an 
hour's march of the conflict, tardily coming into line, and moving away 
when lightly pressed by the enemy. There were curses loud and deep 



lo8 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



breathed against Porter, Pope, and McClellan. The partisans of Porter 
and McClellan called Pope a braggadocio, while the soldiers who had 
fought with obstinacy, who had doubled up Jackson in the first day's 




MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN POPE. 



battle, retorted that McClellan was a coward, who, through all the en- 
gagements on the Peninsula, took good care to be out of reach of hostile 
bullets or cannon shot. The cause of the Union was gloomy. Burnside 
had been hurried up from North Carolina to aid in repelling the in- 



INVASION OF MARYLAND. 139 

vader. The sun shone peacefully through the August day, — summer 
passed into autumn, — 

" And calm and patient Nature kept 
Her ancient promise well, 
Though o'er her bloom and greenness swept 
The battle's breath of hell." 




"I AM A CORRESPONDENT." 

Adversity is a test of faith. In those darkest hours there was no 
faltering of hope. The heart of the nation was serene. The people 
believed that God would give them the victory. The soldiers believed 
it. Those who were passing away from earth, who with quickened 
sight beheld the events of the hour in the light of eternity, trusted that 
Providence would give the victory to their companions in arms. 

Colonel Broadhead, of Michigan, lying upon the battle-field of Manas- 



140 THE BOYS OF '61. 

sas, with the shadow of death stealing over him, wrote a most touching 
farewell letter to his wife, in which he expressed his convictions as to 
who was responsible for the defeat. 

" My Dear Wife: — 

" I write to you, mortally wounded, from the battle-field. We have 
again been defeated, and ere this reaches you your children will be 
fatherless. Before I die let me implore that in some way it may be 

stated that General has been outwitted, and that is a traitor. 

Had they done their duty as I did mine, and had led as I did, the dear 
old flag had waved in triumph. I wrote to you yesterday morning. 
To-day is Sunday, and to-day I sink to the green couch of our final 
rest. I have fought well, my darling ; and I was shot in the end ':r 
to rally our broken battalions. I could have escaped, but wo mt 
until all our hope was gone, and was shot — about the only one of our 
forces left on the field. Our cause is just, and our generals — not the 
enemy's, — have defeated us. In God's good time He will give us the 
victory. 

"And now, good -by, wife and children. Bring them up — I know 
you will — in the fear of God and love for the Saviour. But for you 
and the dear ones dependent, I should die happy. I know the blow 
will fall with crushing weight on you. Trust in Him who gave manna 
in the wilderness. 

" Dr. North is with me. It is now after midnight, and I have spent 
most of the night in sending messages to you. Two bullets have gone 
through my chest, and directly through my lungs. I suffer little now, 
but at first the pain was acute. I have won the soldier's name, and am 
ready to meet now, as I must, the soldier's fate. I hope that from 
heaven I may see the glorious old flag wave again over the undivided 
country I have loved so well. 

" Farewell, wife and friends, we shall meet again." 

The military authorities were often indebted to newspaper corre- 
spondents for intelligence concerning the movements of the rebels. One 
of the most indefatigable of the corps was Mr. U. H. Painter, of the 
Philadelphia Inquirer. He was at Bristow Station when Stuart made 
his first appearance in Pope's rear, capturing the baggage of that officer. 
Mr. Painter was taken prisoner, but, true to his profession, kept his 
eyes and ears open, listening to all that was said by Stuart and his 



INVASION OF MAKYLAND. 



141 



subordinate officers. Being in citizen's dress, he managed to slip 
through the guard, but not till after he had obtained important informa- 
tion relative to the movements of the enemy. Reaching Washington, 
he at once sent an attache of the paper up the Potomac to Point of 
Rocks, also informed the Government that the rebels were intending to 
invade Maryland. No credence was given to his assertion ; the Govern- 
ment believed that Washington was the point aimed at. The rebels 




VIEW IN CULPEPER. 



made their appearance at Point of Rocks, the messenger on watch gave 
Mr. Painter information by telegraph that Stuart was crossing. That 
gentleman informed the Government of the fact, and forwarded a 
despatch to his paper. The Washington papers in the afternoon con- 
tained semi-official denials of the despatch to the Inquirer. But infor- 
mation from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company that the rebels 
had possession of the road at Point of Rocks could not be disputed. 
Even then the Government was slow to believe that the rebels seriously 
intended a movement upon Maryland. 

General Lee was flushed with success. He had reason to think well 
of himself and of his troops. He had raised the siege of Richmond, 
transferred the war to the vicinity of Washington, had defeated Pope on 



142 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



the old battle-ground of Manassas, and driven the Union forces into the 
defences of the capital. His troops believed that they could accomplish 
anything — overcome all obstacles — sweep away the Union army and 
march to Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. 

Lee entered Maryland as a liberator, believing that the people would 
rise en masse to welcome him ; but he was greatly mistaken. 




CONFEDERATE 



MAP OF OPERATIONS AROUND WASHINGTON. 



Taking the train from Philadelphia, I went to Harrisburg, Lancaster, 
and York in Pennsylvania, and thence into western Maryland. Every- 
where the people were arming. All the able-bodied men were drilling. 
All labour was at a standstill. The fires of the foundries went out ; 
the farmers left their uncut grain in the field. Men worth millions of 
dollars were in the ranks as privates. Members of Congress, professors 
of colleges with their classes, iron-masters with their workmen, minis- 
ters, and able-bodied men of their congregations, were hastening to the 



INVASION OF MARYLAND. 



143 



rendezvous. The State Capitol grounds were swarming with men, 
receiving arms and ammunition. It was a glorious exhibition of patriot- 
ism ; yet I could but think that they would offer a feeble resistance in 
the open field to well-drilled troops. At Bunker Hill raw militia stood 
the fire of British veterans ; but such instances of pluck are rare in 
history. 

Going up the Cumberland 
Valley I reached Greencastle 
on the 14th of September, 
ten miles from Hagerstown. 
I could hear a dull and 
heavy booming of cannon 
to the south, in the direc- 
tion of South Mountain ; but 
the rebels were at Hagers- 
town, and had made a dash 
almost up to Greencastle. 
The only troops in the place 
were a few companies watch- 
ing the border, and momen- 
tarily expecting the enemy 
to appear. Citizens of Mary- 
land, some from Virginia, 
Union men, were there, 
ready to run farther North 
on the slightest alarm. major-general fitz john porter. 

The little village was suddenly excited by the cry, " They are 
coming ! " " They are coming ! " It was not a body of Confederates, 
however, but the Union cavalry, which had cut their way out from 
Harper's Ferry in the night before the pusillanimous surrender of 
Colonel Miles. They crossed the pontoon bridge, moved up the 
Potomac, through wood paths and byways, twice coming in contact 
with the rebel pickets, and falling in with Longstreet's ammunition 
trains between Hagerstown and Williamsport, consisting of one hundred 
wagonS, which were captured. Many of the teamsters were slaves, who 
were very glad to see the Yankees. They were contented under 
their capture. 

" Were you not frightened when you saw the Yankees ? " I asked 
of one. 




144 THE BOYS OF '61. 

" Not de leastest bit, massa. I was glad to see 'em. Ye see, we all 
wanted to get Norf. De captain of de guard, he tell me to whip up 
my horses and get away, but I done cut for de woods right towards 
de Norf." 

He chuckled merrily over it, and said, " I 's in de service of de 
Union now." 

He was driving the horses with evident satisfaction at the sudden 
change in his fortunes. 

When John Brown woke the world from its dreaming, at Harper's 
Ferry, he had an accomplice named Cook, who escaped and concealed 
himself in the mountains of Pennsylvania, but who was hunted down 
by Fitz Hugh Miller, of Chambersburg. Among the rebel prisoners 
was this same Fitz Hugh, dressed in a suit of rusty gray, with a black 
ostrich plume in his hat, sunburned, dusty, having a hang-dog look. 
He was a captain in the rebel service. The Dutch blood of the citizens, 
usually as calm and steady in its flow as the rivers of their Fatherland, 
came up with a rush. 

" Hang him ! Down with the traitor ! Kill him ! " they shouted. 
They rushed to seize him, but the guards kept the populace at bay. The 
excitement increased. Miller appealed to the guards to protect him. 
He was quickly hurried into the jail, which was strongly guarded. A 
great change had taken place in the opinions of the people. They had 
been indifferent to the questions of the hour, but the rebel raid, by 
which they had lost their horses, had taught them an excellent lesson. 
Self-interest is sometimes a stimulant to patriotism. They even began 
to look with complacency upon what John Brown had done. 

The Confederates evacuated Hagerstown on the morning of the 16th 
of September, and an hour later I entered it on the first train, which 
was greeted by the people with shouts and hurrahs and demonstrations 
of joy, as if it brought emancipation from long bondage. Some of the 
citizens had manifested sympathy with the Southern troops. Still there 
were groups of excited men in the streets, shouting, " We '11 hang the 
cusses. We 've spotted them, and if they ever come back we '11 be the 
death of them, as sure as there 's a God." 

The battle of South Mountain had been fought, and the hostile 
armies were concentrating for a trial of strength along the peaceful 
banks of the Antietam. 

I was awakened at daylight on the morning of the 17th of September 
by the booming of cannon. It was a dull, leaden morning. The 



INVASION OF MARYLAND. 145 

clouds hung low upon the mountains, and swept in drifts along the 
hillsides. The citizens of Hagerstown were astir, — some standing on 
the housetops, listening to the increasing thunder of the cannonade, 
some in the church steeples, others making haste to visit the field of 
battle. I had no horse, but finding a stable keeper, was soon the owner 
of one. The horse dealer was quite willing to dispose of his animals. 
" Horse-flesh is mighty onsartin' these days," said he. " The rebels 
took my best ones, and if they should come here again, I reckon 
they would clean me out." 

My first impulse was to push directly down the Sharpsburg turnpike 
and gain the rear of the Confederates, enter their lines as a citizen, 
and see the battle from their side. 

" Don't do it, sir," said a citizen. 

Upon reflection, it appeared to be good advice, and so turning about 
(for I had already gone a mile or more in that direction) I took the 
Boonsboro pike and rode rapidly towards the battle-field. Two or three 
miles out I came across a Confederate soldier, — bareheaded, pale, sallow, 
worn out by hard marching, lying under an oak-tree by the roadside. 
His gun was by his side. He raised his head and held up his hand, as 
if to implore me not to harm him. He belonged to a Georgia regiment, 
and had dropped by the way, too feeble to keep his place in the ranks. 
Citizens came and cared for him. 

Striking off from the turnpike in a by-path, then across fields, 
through oak groves, directed by the roar of battle, descending a steep 
hill, and fording the Antietam, I gained the battle-field in rear of the 
right wing, where Hooker was in command. Passing beyond the field 
hospitals, I reached the hill, on Poffenberg's farm. 

The fire was raging fearfully in front of Sumner ; but Hooker's and 
Mansfield's cannon were silent, cooling their brazen lips after the 
morning's fever. In the hollow behind the ridge, east of Poffenberg's 
house, the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps — what was left of them — 
were lying, sad, yet not disheartened. How changed from what they 
were a year before, then fifteen thousand strong ! 

" We cannot lose many more," said one, as I talked of the morning's 
action. Gibbon's brigade, of Hooker's corps, had crossed the turnpike 
and was holding the grounds in the woods between it and the Potomac. 

Ascending the ridge, I came upon Battery B, Fourth Artillery, also 
Cooper's and Easton's Pennsylvania batteries, the New Hampshire 
Ninth, and Rhode Island Fifth, — thirty pieces bearing on the corn field 



146 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



and the wood-crowned hills, where, alas ! hundreds of as brave men as 
ever breathed were lying, who just before had moved to meet the enemy, 
but who never again would engage in battle. 

The firing was hot and heavy a few rods south. 

The fight began with the pickets in the night, and was taken up by 
the artillery at daylight. The enemy had concentrated a heavy force on 
their left, we on our right, because the lay of the land required it, the 




"CITIZENS . 



CARED FOR HIM. 



right being our strongest ground, and their left their weakest. The 
ridge behind Poffenberg's house was the door-post on which our fortunes 
hinged. Not so with them, — theirs was a double door, its hinge being 
in the woods bordering the turnpike south of the tollhouse. 

Hooker gave Meade, with the Pennsylvania Reserves, the right, 
Ricketts the left, and placed Doubleday in support in rear. Mansfield 
joined Hooker's left, but was an hour behind time. Sumner was slow to 
come into action. Hooker advanced, drove in the pickets, found a bat- 
tery on his extreme right, which, as soon as he came within its range, 
began to plough him with a flanking fire. Meade obliqued to the 
right, poured in a few volleys, and drove the enemy across the turnpike. 
This was the extreme left of the enemy's line. Hooker crossed the 



INVASION OF MARYLAND. 



147 



turnpike a few rods north of Poffenberg's, marched through the fields to 
the ridge by the corn field. Having obtained possession of the ridge east 
of Poffenberg's, he planted his batteries and opened a vigorous cannon- 
ade which lasted several minutes. 

The lips of the cannon were cooling, and there was a lull in the strife. 
Desiring to obtain a nearer view of the enemy, I rode down the slope 
through Poffenberg's door yard where were lying two horses killed by a 
cannon shot which smashed 
the head of one and tore open 
the neck of the other. The 
dead of the Pennsylvania Re- 
serves were lying under the 
palings of the garden fence. 
The gable of the house was 
torn to pieces by a shell. 
A little farther on dead men 
in blue and dead men in 
gray were thickly strewn ; 
and still farther out, along 
the narrow lane which runs 
southwest from the house, 
they were as thick as the 
withered leaves in autumn. 
How the battle - storm howled 
through those woods, fiercer 
than the blasts of November ! 
It was a tornado which 
wrenched off the trunks of 
oaks large enough for a ship's keelson, 
with the force of a thunderbolt. 

I rode down the turnpike toward the large farmhouse of Mr. Miller, 
unconscious that I was almost upon the Confederate line, till accosted 
by a soldier lying prostrate upon the ground behind the fence, who 
informed me that I had reached the skirmish line, and suggested that 
a man horseback would be a fine mark for the Confederates secreted in 
the corn rows of the adjoining field. Acting upon the suggestion, I 
returned to Poffenberg's, and rode south along the Union line. It was 
a pleasure to come upon Brigadier-General 0. 0. Howard. He greeted 
me cordially. Since seeing him he had lost an arm at Williamsburg. 




MAJOR-GENERAL E. V. SUMNER. 



riving them, splintering them 



148 THE BOYS OF '61. 

He had just been placed in command of the right wing, Hooker having 
been wounded, and Mansfield killed. 

We were in the open field, a few rods southeast of Poffenberg's 
barn. General Howard rode forward a few steps, looked through the 
leafy branches of the oaks along the turnpike. We could see the dark 
lines of the enemy moving through the corn field. " Tell the batteries to 
give them the heaviest fire possible," he said. It was spoken as deliber- 
ately as if he had said to his servant, " Bring me a glass of water." 
How those thirty pieces of artillery opened! Crack! crack! crack! 
The gray lines wavered, swayed to and fro, and disappeared, finding 
shelter behind an intervening ridge. 

Sumner's division was coming into position. General McClellan's 
plan, so far as I could comprehend any method of attack, was to have 
Hooker's and Mansfield's divisions assault Lee's left flank and that Sum- 
ner was to support them, but Hooker had attacked singly and had been 
repulsed ; so had Mansfield. It was twenty minutes past seven in the 
morning when Sumner received his orders to cross the Antietam River. 
For thirty-six hours he had been doing nothing. He had heard the uproar 
of battle and at last received orders to march to the support of the other 
two divisions. It was too late to support them ; he must attack inde- 
pendently. He was getting on in years, past seventy, brave, grim, — a 
cavalry officer, who had endured great hardships in frontier service. He 
had had little experience with infantry and formed his troops in a 
peculiar manner, in columns of brigades with no wings to protect his 
flanks. 

Looking across an open field, I could see a small brick building, behind 
which was a grove of oaks. It was the Dunker meeting-house, and 
the Confederate line was but a short distance beyond it. Sedgwick's 
division was to move across the field and fall upon the Confederates. 
French's and Richardson's divisions were to move farther south. Quite 
likely Sumner thought that they would be sufficient to protect his left 
flank. Possibly they might if they had advanced with ^Sedgwick, but 
they were not in position when Sedgwick, with Dana's brigade in front, 
Gorman's immediately behind it, and Howard's next in line, advanced. 
Hot blasts from the Confederate artillery beat upon them as Dana's 
men crossed the Hagerstown turnpike, north of the church. Gorman 
was a little east of it, when suddenly a line of men in gray rose, seem- 
ingly out of the earth, on their left flank. General Sumner at this 
moment was talking with Major Philbrick of the Massachusetts Fif- 



INVASION OF MARYLAND. 149 

teenth Regiment. The major was the first to espy the men in gray. The 
brave old man gazed a moment, then dashed up to Dana. 

" Change front ? " he shouted. The advancing line came to a halt. 
Cannon shot were ploughing through the ranks, shells exploding, and 
volleys of musketry rolling from the east of the ledge of stone behind 
the church. Dana's men had been marching southwest ; the order 
directed them to swing the line and face southeast, which would bring 
them under an enfilading fire. General Howard saw the Confederates 
folding around his left flank, held by the Seventy-second Pennsylvania. 
The troops swing as best they can, but for want of room become 
confused. The struggle is short, but men go down in heaps. In a few 
minutes, more than two thousand are killed or wounded, and the whole 
division is compelled to fall back. The Confederates, having repulsed 
Sedgwick, fall back and disappear in the hollow from which they came. 
The Fifteenth Massachusetts advanced with 582 men ; in twenty min- 
utes 343 had been killed or disabled. The Confederate loss was less 
severe, but General Hood regarded it as one of the most terrific struggles 
he had ever seen. 

The uproar died away. During the lull in the storm General McClel- 
lan, whose headquarters were in a fine old farm mansion, east of the 
Antietam, visited the field. I was sitting on my horse in the edge of a 
grove, north of Mr. Musna's house, when he rode up accompanied by his 
staff. The soldiers gave no hurrah of welcome, but gazed at him in 
silence. He took a brief survey of the field through his glass, closed it, 
turned his horse once more toward the Antietam, and reached his 
headquarters. 

It was an inspiring scene — if there can be anything inspiring in war, 
when French's and Richardson's divisions moved down the fields a little 
farther south. The gun-barrels and bayonets were gleaming in the sun- 
light. The flags of the regiments and brigades were fluttering in the 
breeze, and the ranks were in admirable alignment. Following the com- 
mander-in-chief, I crossed the Antietam, and reached the mansion where 
he had established his headquarters. McClellan and the members of 
his staff, with their field-glasses, were watching the advance of French 
and Richardson. Fitz John Porter's corps, numbering twelve thousand, 
was in line behind a ridge — McClellan was holding it in reserve. I 
was in position to see every movement of the advancing troops. Gen- 
eral French's division moved towards the house of Mr. Musna ; Rich- 
ardson's towards the house of Mr. Rulet. French had Weber's, Kimball's, 



150 THE BOYS OF '61. 

and Morris's brigades. Weber was in front, then Morris, and lastly 
Kimball. Morris's troops were entering their first battle. Suddenly the 
hills above them burst into flames, and the smoke of the Confederate 
cannon drifted towards them. Shells exploded above them ; iron bolts 
tore through their ranks. A little nearer and handfuls of white cloud 
burst from the windows of Musna's house, which the Confederates were 
using as a shelter. 

The Union skirmishers came to a burial-ground where the white mar- 
ble headstones stood out in bold relief against the deep green of the 
grass grown graves. Crouching down, resting their muskets upon the 
verdant mounds, the skirmishers gave shot for shot, and sent the Confed- 
erates running from the building, first setting it on fire. The dark 
pillar of smoke, the flashing of cannon, the advancing troops make up 
the picture. 

Weber's brigade advanced steadily, throwing down fences, scaling 
walls ; not so the new troops under Morris, which became confused. 

General French saw that the time had come for a quick, decisive 
movement. 

" Tell General Kimball to move to the front and come in on the left 
of Weber," he said to one of his staff. 

Kimball's troops were veterans, commanded by a cool-headed, brave, 
self-reliant officer. The brigade swung to the left, entered a ravine, and 
moved towards the house of Mr. Rulet, sweeping through an orchard, 
and along a narrow roadway leading to the house. Just beyond the 
house is a road, which has been used for many years. The rains have 
washed it till it has sunk below the surface of the adjoining fields, form- 
ing a natural fortification. We who beheld the spectacle did not know 
that D. H. Hill's Confederate division was lying in the road, awaiting 
the onset. The advancing troops did not know it. We could only see 
the Confederate batteries flaming farther up the slope, and the Union 
batteries on the right of French, in the grove east of the Dunker church, 
sending their shells in the direction of the general Confederate line. 

The advancing troops reached the crest of the hill, and suddenly 
beheld a rail fence between them and the road, and a line of men rising 
from the ground. Instead of halting appalled before the sudden appari- 
tion, with a hurrah they rushed forward and poured a volley into the 
Confederate ranks. The men in gray went down in heaps. In a 
twinkling the Confederate line was annihilated. The few who were left 
fled into a corn field, sloping up the hillside. The Union troops tore 



INVASION OF MARYLAND. 



153 



down the fence, leaped across the line of dead and dying, and followed 
the fugitives into the corn rows. 

There are turning-points in the lives of men. General McClellan 
was sitting in an armchair beholding the scene. He does not compre- 
hend that a great moment has come; that now is the supreme moment 
for him to hurl Fitz John Porter's corps of twelve thousand men upon 





BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 



the broken Confederate lines, and drive it like a wedge into Lee's centre, 
fold back two wings of the Confederates, and drive Lee pell-mell back 
upon the Potomac, with only one avenue of escape at Shepardstown. 
Had he seen it and given the order, there can be little doubt as to the 
result, for at that hour Jackson's troops, on their way from Harper's 
Ferry, had not joined Lee ; they were several miles away. 

While French was thus breaking the Confederate centre, Richardson 
was engaging Longstreet, south of Rulet's, driving the Confederates from 
that section of the sunken road. In the mele"e, Richardson received a 



154 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



mortal wound. Nearly six hundred Confederates were taken prisoners, 
and Longstreet's line forced back to the village of Sharpsburg. 

It was an auspicious moment for decisive action on the part of 
McClellan. Near his headquarters, screened from the enemy's view, 
were eleven thousand men under Fitz John Porter waiting for orders, 
which never came to them. They could hear the roar of the battle, the 
rolls of musketry like the ground swell of the waves of the ocean, the 




"WAITING FOR ORDERS. 



thunder of the cannonade. They were in a position from whence they 
could have been hurled in mass upon the broken Confederates. Through 
the day they stood there, doing nothing. 

The Antietam River was crossed by four stone bridges. Hooker and 
Mansfield had crossed the two upper ones. The next was on the road 
leading from Theedysville to Sharpsburg; the fourth, farther down- 
stream, was twelve feet wide and one hundred and fifty feet in length. 
General McClellan planned to have it carried -by General Burnside. 






INVASION OF MARYLAND. 155 

Upon the western bank is a limestone quarry and a stone wall, making 
a natural fortress, held by a brigade of Confederates under General 
Howell Cobb, who had been Secretary of the Treasury under Buchanan. 
Burnside planted his batteries on the eastern side, and all through the 
forenoon they had rained solid shot and shell upon the quarry, with 
little effect. 

It was a peremptory order from McClellan which a member of his 
staff carried to Burnside. 

" You are to carry the bridge, gain the heights beyond, advance to 
Sharpsburg, and gain the rear of the enemy." 

There was no need for such an order. The water in the Antietam 
was so low that it could be forded at almost any point. I myself crossed 
it several times during the day, and in no instance did my horse go above 
his knees into the water. It is fair to conclude that neither McClellan 
or Burnside made any effort to discover whether or not the stream could 
be forded. 

To carry the bridge the attacking troops must wind down a hill, cross 
a level plateau, rush across the bridge, climb the steep bank beyond, 
with cannon pouring canister into their ranks and a brigade of Con- 
federates at close range mowing down the assaulting troops. Several 
attempts were made by Burnside during the forenoon, resulting in 
failure. McClellan seemed to think that the only chance for victory lay 
in carrying the bridge. He sent Colonel Key with an imperative order 
to have the bridge carried with the bayonet, no matter at what sacrifice 
of life. 

The assault was made, the Seventh Connecticut leading. There was 
a fearful slaughter, but the Confederates were driven from the limestone 
quarry, and the way was open for an advance toward Sharpsburg. After 
the bridge had been carried it was discovered that the stream could be 
forded, and a large number of the regiments waded the water to the 
Western bank. 

At three o'clock the whole Ninth Corps advanced. I rode down to the 
bridge, and from the hill near by saw the movement over the hills. 
There was an evident commotion in the Confederate ranks. I could 
see in the sunlight the gleam of bayonets above the heads of 
regiments running southward from Longstreet's position. It was a 
critical moment with Lee, but his heart was cheered by the arrival of 
A. P. Hill's division of Jackson's corps, coming upon the double quick 
from Harper's Ferry, marching seventeen miles in seven hours. They 



156 THE BOYS OF '61. 

formed in the fields south of Sharpsburg just in season to hold 
Burnside in check. 

The sun was going down, red and large, through the murky battle- 
cloud. All of the Confederate and many of the Union batteries were 
flaming, but with the gloaming the thunder died away. Groping my 
away among the bivouac fires, I came upon a group of soldiers, who 
had eaten their rations of biscuit and beef, and were whiling the hours 
away talking of the incidents of the day, and singing songs. Their 
laughter, boisterous at times, died away when one sang the song : 

" Do they miss me at home ? Do they miss me ? 
'T would be an assurance most dear 
To know at this moment some loved one 
Were saying, ' I wish he were here.' " 

Through the night the troops rested on their arms. With the rising 
of the sun the cannonade began again. General Cook's division of 
fresh troops had arrived, which, with Porter's corps, gave McClellan 
twenty-five thousand fresh troops. I could not discover any preparations 
for a renewal of the battle. Eighty thousand troops were there, but 
for some reason, never explained, McClellan gave no order. He believed 
that Lee had one hundred thousand, yet it was plain from the different 
views I had of the Confederate lines that McClellan had by far the 
largest number of men. 

A flag of truce came out from the Confederate lines, asking for 
an armistice to gather up the wounded, between the two armies. The 
request was granted. I walked over the field in front of the Dunker 
church, where a large number were lying. Upon the breast of one 
Union soldier lay a pocket Bible, upon the fly-leaf of which was 
written, doubtless by a loving mother : " We hope and pray that you 
may be permitted by a kind Providence after the war is over to return " 
— a prayer not to be granted. He had given his life to the country. 
Many a mother, many a wife mourned for a loved one they never 
again would see. 

The day passed without the issuing of any order by McClellan. 
. Another morning dawned, and the Confederate army was once more in 
Virginia. 

After the retreat of Lee, I rode over the ground and surveyed the 
field from every point. The dead were thickly strewn. A Confederate 
battery had occupied the ground around the Dunker church, a small 



INVASION OF MARYLAND. 



157 



brick building on the turnpike, a mile south of Poffenberg's. At its 
door-step lay a major, a captain, and eleven men, all dead. A wounded 
horse, unable to lie down, was standing near a dismantled caisson. 




DO THEY MISS ME AT HOME? 



Almost human was the beseeching look of the dumb creature. I rode 
along the sunken road, where the Confederate dead were lying as 
they had fallen. 






158 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



I judged from a little counting that a thousand of the enemy's dead 
were in the road and the adjoining field. A shell had thrown seven 
into one heap, — some on their faces, some on their backs, — fallen, as a 




"MANY A WIFE MOURNED FOR A LOVED ONE WHOM THEY NEVER 
AGAIN WOULD SEE." 

handful of straws would fall when dropped upon the ground. But not 
they alone suffered. The bloody tide which had surged through all the 
morning between the ridges above, along the right, had flowed over the 



INVASION OF MARYLAND. 



159 



hill at this noontide hour. The yellow soil became crimson ; the russet 
corn-leaves turned to red, as if autumn had put on in a moment her 
richest glory. 

Now that Lee was across the river, the order was given for the army 
to push on. I was in the village of Sharpsburg when McClellan and his 
staff rode up. Fitz John Porter's troops cheered him, but Hooker's 
men received him with sullen silence. Porter's corps, in advance, came 
upon Lee's rear guard at Shepardstown, but was repulsed. 




THE NEWSBOY. 



I had witnessed a great battle and made notes of the terrible conflict. 
Then came a midnight ride to Hagerstown, a journey to Boston, the 
writing of the story in the cars. I had seen the entire battle with the 
exception of Hooker's attack, in the morning. I was honoured by the 
Baltimore American in a republication of my account, of which many 
thousand copies were sold to the soldiers. It has even been a pleasure 
to receive assurances of its correctness from those who participated in 
that battle. The newsboys did a thriving business in selling the Balti- 
more, Philadelphia, and New York papers. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

INVASION OF KENTUCKY. 

SIMULTANEOUS with Lee's advance into Maryland was the advance 
of the Confederates under General Bragg into Kentucky, flanking 
General Buell, and compelling him to retreat from the banks of the 
Tennessee in Northern Alabama to Louisville. The Confederates were 
warmly welcomed by those whose sympathies were with the South. 
Bragg was feted in Frankfort, the capital. A provisional government was 
organised. Many of the citizens kept open house to the Confederate 
officers. 

General Bragg was dining with the accomplished Mrs. Preston, when 
a messenger dashed into town with the intelligence of the advance of 
the Union troops. Governor Harris, — six hours a Governor, — packed 
his carpetbag in great haste. The brilliant throng of officers mounted 
their horses, the ladies took down their miniature flags, while the citi- 
zens of the place prepared to change their politics. The Confederate 
force in the town consisted of two regiments of infantry and one of 
cavalry, guarding the turnpike bridge across the Kentucky River. 

The Union cavalry came thundering down the hill. It was in the 
evening ; and without halting to ascertain who or what they were to 
encounter, dashed across the bridge. The Confederates gave one irres- 
olute volley and fled precipitately from the town, which was once more 
and for a finality in the hands of the Union men. Four days later the 
battle of Perryville was fought, and then the invaders retired from the 
State with their booty. 

Their visit was at once a curse and a blessing, — a curse, because of 
the havoc, the desolation, and pillage ; a blessing, because it brought 
Kentuckians to a sharp corner. The President had just issued his 
Proclamation of freedom, and Kentucky slaveholders were grumbling, 
and were ready to shake hands with the Confederates. They had wel- 
comed their Southern friends, who had robbed and plundered them 
without stint. 

The Union men, on the other hand, hailed with joy the advance of 

160 



INVASION OF KENTUCKY. 



161 



the men in blue. Probably in no State was the loyalty of those who 
stood by the Union more intense than in eastern Kentucky, Tennessee, 




"THE UNION FOREVER! HURRAH ! BOYS, HURRAH ! " 

and the western section of North Carolina. The people of the mountain 
section never wavered in their allegiance to the Stars and Stripes. 

The Army of the Potomac the while was doing nothing, and, seeing no 
signs of any immediate movement, I hastened West once more to Louis- 



162 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



on potto affairs, had become ^^ J^ 1 *^ —eonnnitta! 




"SLAVERY AT ITS BEST. 



Confederacy Ken ckVTd 2 , ' '^ "° Ceded a " d J oil '«' *• 

J J-entucky had remamed m the Union and the owners of 



INVASION OF KENTUCKY. 



163 



slaves were to be compensated for their slaves by the general Govern- 
ment. I made the acquaintance of gentlemen who were kind to their 
slaves, providing them with comfortable cabins, and supplying them 




"THE BROAD GREEN LEAVES RIPENING IN THE SL'N. 

with good food. When too old to work, they could sit all day by their 
cabin doors basking in the sunshine. This was slavery at its best. On 
plantations owned by these gentlemen the field hands were not greatly 



164 THE BOYS OF '61. 

overworked. There were fields in tobacco, — the broad green leaves 
ripening in the sun. Negro men and women were harvesting the plant. 
Of all the negro labourers not one manifested any interest in his work. 
Slavery offered no incentive to energetic action. It was enforced labour ; 
time was of no account. Indolence was a virtue. 

There was much difference of opinion in regard to the course pursued 
by President Lincoln. Those who loved the union of the States, who 
comprehended the blessings that come from the Constitution, saw that 
slavery was doomed, and accepted the wiping out of the institution as 
a logical and inevitable conclusion. 

The Louisville Journal condemned the Proclamation, giving utterance 
to the voice of the slaveholders, declaring that the Proclamation would 
have no binding force in that State ; but the soldiers hailed it with joy. 
They felt that slavery was the cause of the war, and were longing to 
see it overthrown. Bragg having left the State, many masters began to 
look up their slaves, some of whom had fled to the Union lines for 
protection. 

One wing of the army was resting at Williamstown, about twenty-five 
miles south of Cincinnati, in which was a division commanded by Gen- 
eral Q. A. Gillmore ; then a brigadier who, in common with many other 
officers, believed in what was called the " Kentucky policy." When the 
army began a forward movement in pursuit of Bragg, General Gillmore 
issued an order, known as General Order No. 5, which reads as fol- 
lows : 

" All contrabands, except officers' servants, will be left behind when 
the army moves to-morrow morning. Public transportation will in no 
case be furnished to officers' servants. 

" Commanders of regiments and detachments will see this order 
promptly enforced." 

Among the regiments of the division was the Twenty -second Wis- 
consin, Colonel Utley, an officer who had no sympathy with slavery. 
He had a cool head and a good deal of nerve. He had read the Procla- 
mation of President Lincoln, and made up his mind to do what was 
right, recognising the President as his Commander-in-chief, and not the 
State of Kentucky. There were negroes accompanying his regiment, 
and he did not see fit to turn them out. Three days later he received 
the following note : 

" October 18, 1862. 

" Colonel : You will at once send to my headquarters the four con- 



INVASION OF KENTUCKY. 165 

trabands, John, Abe, George, and Dick, known to belong to good and 
loyal citizens. They are in your regiment, or were this morning. 
" Your obedient servant, 

" Q. A. Gillmore, Brigadier- General" 

Colonel Utley, instead of sending the men, replied : 

" Permit me to say, that I recognise your authority to command me 
in all military matters pertaining to the military movements of the 
army. I do not look upon this as belonging to that department. I 
recognise no authority on the subject of delivering up contrabands save 
that of the President of the United States. 

" You are, no doubt, conversant with that Proclamation, dated Sept. 
22, 1862, and the law of Congress on the subject. In conclusion, I will 
say, that I had nothing to do with their coming into camp, and shall 
have nothing to do with sending them out." 

The note was despatched to division headquarters. Soon after an 
officer called upon Colonel Utley. 

" You are wanted, sir, at General Gillmore's quarters." 

Colonel Utley made his appearance before General Gillmore. 

" I sent you an order this evening." 

" Yes, sir, and I refused to obey it." 

" I intend to be obeyed, sir. I shall settle this matter at once. I 
shall repeat the order in the morning." 

" General, to save you the trouble and folly of such a course, let me 
say that I shall not obey it." 

The colonel departed. Morning came, but brought no order for the 
delivery of the contrabands to their former owner. 

As the regiment passed through Georgetown, a large number of slaves 
belonging to citizens of that place fled from their masters, and found 
shelter in the army. Some of the officers who had less nerve than 
Colonel Utley gave them up, or permitted the owners to come and take 
them. A Michigan regiment marching through the town had its lines 
entered by armed citizens, who forcibly took away their slaves. Colonel 
Utley informed the inhabitants that any attempt to take contrabands 
from his lines would be resisted. 

" Let me say to you, gentlemen," he said to a delegation of the citi- 
zens, " that my men will march with loaded muskets, and if any attempt 
is made upon my regiment, I shall sweep your streets with fire, and close 



166 THE BOYS OF '61. 

the history of Georgetown. If you seriously intend any such business, I 
advise you to remove the women and children." 

The regiment marched the next morning with loaded muskets. The 
citizens beheld their negroes sheltered and protected by a forest of 
gleaming bayonets, and wisely concluded not to attempt the recovery of 
the uncertain property. 

The day after its arrival in Nicholasville, a large, portly gentleman, 
lying back in an elegant carriage, rode up to the camp, and, making his 
appearance before the colonel, introduced himself as Judge Robertson, 
Chief Justice of the State of Kentucky. 

" I am in pursuit of one of my boys, who I understand is in this regi- 
ment," he said. 

" You mean one of your slaves, I presume ? " 

" Yes, sir. Here is an order from the general, which you will see 
directs that I may be permitted to enter the lines and get the boy," said 
the judge, with great dignity. 

" I do not permit any civilian to enter my lines for any such purpose," 
said the colonel. 

The judge sat down, not greatly astonished, for the reputation of the 
Twenty-second Wisconsin, as an abolition regiment, was well established. 
He began to argue the matter. He talked of the compromises of the 
Constitution, and proceeded to say : 

" I was in Congress, sir, when the Missouri Compromise was adopted, 
and voted for it ; but I am opposed to slavery, and I once wrote an essay 
on the subject, favouring emancipation." 

" Well, sir, all that may be. If you did it from principle, it was com- 
mendable ; but your mission here to-day gives the lie to your professions. 
I don't permit negro-hunters to go through my regiment ; but I will see 
if I can find the boy, and if he is willing to go I will not hinder him." 

The colonel went out and found the negro Joe, a poor, half-starved 
negro. He told his story. He belonged to the judge, who had let him 
to a brutal Irishman for $50 a year. He had been kicked and cuffed, 
starved and whipped, till he could stand it no longer. He went to the 
judge and complained, but had been sent back only to receive a worse 
thrashing for daring to complain. At last he took to the woods, lived 
on walnuts, green corn, and apples, sleeping among the corn shucks and 
wheat stacks till the army came. There were tears in Joe's eyes as he 
rehearsed his sufferings. 

The colonel went back to the judge. 



INVASION OF KENTUCKY. 167 

" Have you found him ?" 

" I have found a little yellow boy, who says that he belongs to a man 
in Lexington. Come and see him." 

" This man claims you as his property, Joe ; he says that you ran 
away and left him," said the colonel. 

" Yes, sah, I belongs to him," said Joe, who told his story again in a 
plain, straightforward manner, showing a neck scarred and cut by the 
whip. 

" You can talk with Joe, sir, if you wish," said the colonel. 

" Have not I always treated you well ? " the judge asked. 

" No, massa, you has n't," was the square, plump reply. 

» How so ? " 

" When I came to you and told you I could n't stand it any longer, 
you said, ' Go back, you dog ! '" 

" Did not I tell you that I would take you away ? " 

" Yes, massa, but you never did it." 

The soldiers came round and listened. Joe saw that they were 
friends. The judge stood speechless a moment. 

"Joe," said the colonel, "are you willing to go home with your 
master ? " 

" No, sah, I is n't." 

" Judge Robertson, I don't think you can get that boy. If you think 
you can, there he is, try it. I shall have nothing to do with it," said 
the colonel, casting a significant glance around to the soldiers who had 
gathered about them. 

The judge saw that he could not lay hands upon Joe. " I '11 see 
whether there is any virtue in the laws of Kentucky," he said, with 
great emphasis. 

" Perhaps, judge, it will be as well for you to leave the camp. Some 
of my men are a little excitable on the subject of slavery." 

" You are a set of nigger-stealers," said the judge, losing his 
temper. 

" Allow me to say, judge, that it does not become you to call us 
nigger-stealers. You talk about nigger-stealing, — you who live on the 
sweat and blood of such creatures as Joe ! Your dwellings, your 
churches, are built from the earnings of slaves, beaten out of them by 
brutal overseers. You hire little children out to brutes, — you clothe 
them in rags, — you hunt them with hounds, — you chain them down to 
toil and suffering ! You call us thieves because we have given your Joe 



168 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



food and protection ! Sir, I would rather be in the place of Joe than in 
that of his oppressor ! " was the indignant outburst of the colonel. 




"YOU SAID, 'GO BACK, YOU DOG I '" 

" Well, sir, if that is the way you men of the North feel, the Union 
never can be saved, — never ! You must give up our property." 

" Judge, allow me to tell you what sort of Unionism I have found in 
Kentucky. I have not seen a half-dozen who did not damn the Presi- 



INVASION OF KENTUCKY. 169 

dent. You may put all the pure Unionism in Kentucky in one scale, 
and a ten-pound nigger baby in the other, and the Unionism will kick 
the beam. Allow me to say, further, that if the perpetuity or restora- 
tion of the Union depends upon my delivering to you with my own 
hands that little half-starved dwarf of a slave, the Union may be cast 
into hell with all the nations that forget God ! " 

" The President's Proclamation is unconstitutional. It has no bearing 
on Kentucky. I see that it is your deliberate intention to set at naught 
the laws," said the judge, turning away, and walking to General Gill- 
more's headquarters. 

" You are wanted at the general's headquarters," said an aid, soon 
after, to Colonel Utley. 

The colonel obeyed the summons, and found there not only Judge 
Robertson, but several fine old Kentucky gentlemen ; also Colonel 
Coburn, the commander of the brigade, who agreed with General Gill- 
more in the policy then current. Colonel Coburn said : 

" The policy of the commanding generals, as I understand it, is 
simply this : that persons who have lost slaves have a right to hunt for 
them anywhere in the State. If a slave gets inside of the lines of a 
regiment, the owner has a right to enter those lines, just as if no regi- 
ment was there, and take away the fugitive at his own pleasure." 

" Precisely so. The Proclamation has no force in this State," said 
the judge. 

" I regret that I am under the necessity of differing in opinion from 
my commanding officers, to whom I am ready at all times to render 
strict military obedience, but ( the colonel raised his voice ) / reverse the 
Kentucky policy ! I hold that the regiment stands precisely as though 
there were no slavery in Kentucky. We came here as free men, from a 
free State, at the call of the President to uphold a free government. 
We have nothing to do with slavery. The Twenty-second Wisconsin, 
while I have the honour to command it, will never be a regiment of 
nigger-catchers. I will not allow civilians to enter my lines at pleasure ; 
it is unmilitary. Were I to permit it, I should be justly amenable to a 
court-martial. Were I to do it, spies might enter my lines at all times 
and depart at pleasure." 

There was silence. But Judge Robertson was loth to go away with- 
out his flesh and blood. He made one more effort. " Colonel, I did 
not come to your lines as a spy, but with an order from your general. 
Are you willing that I should go and get my boy ? " 



170 THE BOYS OF '61. 

The colonel reflected a moment. 

" Yes, sir, and I will remain here. I told you before that I should 
have nothing to do with it." 

" Do you think that the men will permit me to take him ? " 
" I have no orders to issue to them in the matter ; they will do just as 
they please." 

" Will you send the boy into some other regiment ? " 
This was too much for the colonel. He could no longer restrain his 
indignation. Looking the judge squarely in the face, he vented his 
anger in scathing words. 

The judge departed, and at the next session of the court Colonel 
Utley was indicted for man-stealing ; but he has not yet been brought to 
trial. The case is postponed till the day of judgment, when a righteous 
verdict will be rendered. 

The judge returned to Lexington, called a public meeting, at which 
he made a speech, denouncing the Twenty - second Wisconsin as an 
abolition regiment, and introducing resolutions declaring that the Union 
never could be restored if the laws of the State of Kentucky were thus 
set at defiance. This from the judge, while his son was in the rebel 
service, fighting against the Union. 

But the matter was not yet over. A few days later, the division 
containing the Twenty -second Wisconsin, commanded by General Baird, 
vice Gillmore, was ordered down the river. It went to Louisville, 
followed by the slave - hunters, who were determined to have their 
negroes. 

Orders were issued to the colonels not to take any contrabands on 
board the boats, and most of them obeyed. Colonel Utley issued no 
orders. 

A citizen called upon him and said : 

" Colonel, you will have trouble in going through the city unless you 
give up the negroes in your lines." 

The regiment was then on its march to the wharf. 
" They have taken all the negroes from the ranks of the other regi- 
ments, and they intend to take yours." 

The colonel turned to his men and said, quietly, " Fix bayonets." 

The regiment moved on through the streets, and reached the Gault 

House, where the slaveholders had congregated. I was standing on the 

sidewalk looking at the passing troops. Among the spectators I noticed 

several men who appeared to be somewhat excited. A half dozen 



INVASION OF KENTUCKY. 171 

approached the regiment rather cautiously, but one bolder than the rest 
sprang into the ranks and seized a negro by the collar. 

A dozen bayonets came down around him, some not very gently. He 
let go his hold and sprang back again quite as quickly as he entered the 
lines. 

There was a shaking of fists and muttered curses, but the regiment 
passed on to the landing, just as if nothing had happened. 

General Granger, who had charge of the transportation, had issued 
orders that no negro should be allowed on the boats without free papers. 

General Baird saw the negroes on the steamer, and approaching 
Colonel Utley, said : 

" Why, colonel, how is this ? Have all of these negroes free 
papers ? " 

" Perhaps not all, but those who have n't, have declared their inten- 
tions!'''' said the colonel. 

The Twenty - second took transportation on the steamer Commercial. 
The captain of the boat was a Kentuckian, who came to Colonel Utley 
in great trepidation, saying : " Colonel, I can't start till those negroes 
are put on shore. I shall be held responsible. My boat will be seized 
and libelled under the laws of the State." 

" I can't help that, sir ; the boat is under the control and in the 
employ of the Government. I am commander on board, and you have 
nothing to do but to steam up and go where you are directed. Other- 
wise I shall be under the necessity of arresting you." 

The captain departed and began his preparations. But now came the 
sheriff of Jefferson County with a writ. He wanted the bodies of 
George, Abraham, John, and Dick, who were still with the Twenty- 
second. They were the runaway property of a fellow named Hogan, 
who a few days before had figured in a convention held at Frankfort, in 
which he introduced a series of Secession resolutions. 

" I have a writ for your arrest, but I am willing to waive all action 
on condition of your giving up the fugitives which you are harbouring 
contrary to the peace and dignity of the State," said the sheriff. 

" I have other business to attend to just now. I am under orders 
from my superiors in command to proceed down the river without any 
delay, and must get the boat under way," said the colonel, bowing, 
politely. 

" But, colonel, you are aware of the consequences of deliberately set- 
ting at defiance the laws of a sovereign State," said the sheriff. 



172 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



" Are you all ready there ? " said the colonel, not to the sheriff, but 
to the officer of the day, who had charge of affairs. 

" Yes, sir." 

" Then cast off." 

The game of bluff had been played between the Twenty-second Wis- 
consin and the State of Kentucky, and Wisconsin had won. 

The sheriff jumped ashore. There were hoarse puffs from the steam- 
pipes, the great wheels turned in the stream, the Commercial swung 
from her moorings, and the soldiers of Wisconsin floated down the 
broad Ohio with the Stars and Stripes waving above them. 

By their devotion to principle, by the firmness of their commander, 
they had given the cause of Freedom a mighty uplift in the old State of 
Kentucky. 

The army under Buell was waiting for orders to move, but no orders 
came. Buell had no plans. It was in the Blue Grass region where 
there was an abundance of fresh provisions. The soldiers helped them- 
selves to sweet potatoes in the fields. Spareribs were roasted by bi- 
vouac fires, which were not accounted for by the regimental commissary 
in his returns to the general Government. Advices from the East led 
me to conclude that the Army of the Potomac would, ere long, begin a 
new campaign, and I hastened once more to Washington. 



CHAPTER IX. 

FROM HARPER'S FERRY TO FREDERICKSBURG. 

THE Army of the Potomac was encamped along the upper Potomac 
from Harper's Ferry to Point of Rocks. It had been reorgan- 
ised. New regiments had arrived, and it was in superb condition. The 
Confederate Army under Lee was in the Shenandoah Valley, mainly at 
Winchester and holding the gap in the Blue Ridge. 

President Lincoln visited the army and was enthusiastically received 
by the troops. Most of the soldiers rejoiced over the issuing of the 
Proclamation foreshadowing the downfall of slavery. On the other 
hand, there were officers in the army, notably on General McClellan's 
staff, who were openly antagonistic to the President's course. 

In a private letter General McClellan has written the following in 
regard to the visit of President Lincoln. 

" His ostensible purpose is to see the troops and the battle-field. I 
incline to think that the real purpose of his visit is to push me into a 
premature advance into Virginia. I may be mistaken, but I think not. 
The real truth is that my army is not fit to advance. The old regi- 
ments are reduced to skeletons and are completely tired out. They 
need rest and filling up. The new regiments are not fit for the field, 
cavalry and artillery horses are broken down, so it goes. These people 
don't know what an army requires and therefore act stupidly." 

Day after day the sun shone from a cloudless sky. The army was 
ready to move, but McClellan issued no orders. The picket guard 
looking across the country could see the white tents reaching miles 
away. The view from the heights of the South Mountain was inspiring. 
Daily the wonder increased over the inactivity of the commander-in- 
chief. Again, as in 1861, all was quiet along the Potomac. 

Word comes to President Lincoln that one of the members of Gen- 
eral McClellan's staff, Major John J. Key, had uttered sentiments 
which were regarded as disloyal. The people of the Northern States 
were wondering why McClellan did not attack Lee on the morning of 

173 



174 THE BOYS OF '61. 

September 18th, and why the Confederates were allowed to slip away 
without any attempt to prevent Lee's escape. 

" Why," asked Major Turner, " was not the rebel army bagged at 
Antietam ? " 

" That," replied Major Key, " is not the game. The object is that 
neither army shall get much advantage of the other, that both shall 
be kept in the field till they are exhausted, when we will make a 
compromise and save slavery." 

The two officers were summoned to appear at the White House in 
Washington to explain matters. Major Key did not deny that he had 
used the language as reported, but said that he was loyal to the Union. 
President Lincoln heard what he had to say and said : 

" If there is a game among Union men to have our army not take 
advantage of the enemy when it can, I propose to break it up. In my 
view it is wholly inadmissable for any gentleman holding a commission 
from the United States to utter such sentiments as Major Key is proved 
to have done ; therefore let him forthwith be dismissed from the military 
service of the United States." 

The army present and fit for duty on October 1st numbered 100,- 
000, besides 73,000 under General Banks in and around Washington, 
yet it did not move, nor had McClellan any plan. 

The telegraph, October 16th, flashed a dispatch from General Hal- 
leck informing McClellan that the President directed him to cross 
the Potomac and give battle to the enemy and drive him south. 
Notwithstanding the order, nothing was done. Four days later Gen- 
eral Stuart, commanding the Confederate cavalry, rode down the Cum- 
berland valley to Chambersburg, Penn., burned the railroad buildings, 
turned eastward to Emmetsburg, made his way southward and recrossed 
the Potomac at Leesburg. He had trotted around McClellan in Mary- 
land as he had once before on the Peninsula. It was most humiliating 
to the commander of the Army of the Potomac, whose only excuse was 
that the cavalry horses were broken down. 

" Will you pardon me, " wrote the President, " for asking what the 
horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that 
fatigues anything ? " 

I chanced to be at the headquarters of General Burnside when Gen- 
eral McClellan called upon that officer. A glance at his countenance 
showed that he was ill at ease. Courtesy demanded my retirement, and 
I joined Burnside's staff. The two commanders walked away by them- 



FKOM HARPER'S FERRY TO FREDERICKSBURG. 



177 



selves a short distance. Of what was said there is no record. McClellan 
laid both hands on Burnside's shoulders, and the two stood in that atti- 
tude face to face, several minutes, McClellan speaking, Burnside making 
little reply. It seems probable that McClellan had been disturbed by a 
letter which we now know he received from the President. Not till the 
last week in October was there any movement, when pontoons were laid 




MAJOR -GENERAL AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE. 



at Berlin and the army began its crossing. General Lee, cognisant of 
all that was going on, leisurely returned towards the Rappahannock. 
The Union army marched deliberately — bivouacking at night — the 
bivouac fires illuming all the country. 

General McClellan was sitting in his tent on the evening of November 



178 THE BOYS OF '61. 

7th, when General Buckingham placed a letter in his hands, relieving 
him from command and appointing Burnside as his successor. 

General McClellan rode along the lines of the army, receiving the 
hurrahs of the troops under Fitz John Porter and several brigades in 
other commands, but only respectful silence from others. I was present 
at a luncheon of cold tongue and ham, spread upon a table in a farm- 
house, where the health of the departing commander was drunk by the 
corps and division commanders present. It was far from being a 
hilarious occasion. 

The commander who had come before the country with such Sclat 
from western Virginia, sixteen months previous, was departing for 
his home in New Jersey, discredited by those who were waging earnest 
warfare for the preservation of the Union. The great opportunities of 
military achievement, several times within his grasp, had gone by never 
to return. 

General Burnside took the command reluctantly ; but he was quick 
in deciding upon a plan. General McClellan's line of march had been 
towards Gordonsville. He decided to move upon Fredericksburg. The 
movement was made with great rapidity, and he only failed of seizing 
the place because the pontoons were not there at the time appointed. 
Lee came and occupied the town, threw up his earthworks, and planted 
his batteries. Burnside planned to have Franklin cross the Rappahan- 
nock below Port Royal, Hooker above it, while Sumner was to cross 
opposite the town ; but a heavy storm frustrated the movement. 

It was generally supposed that the army would go into winter 
quarters, and many of the correspondents accordingly returned to 
their homes. 

The press of the country, reflecting the feelings of the people, 
pronounced the campaign at an end. The friends of General McClellan 
were clamorous for his return. Congress and political advisers in 
Washington demanded that Burnside should move somewhere. They 
knew nothing of the obstacles in his path. 

In a letter to the newspaper for which I corresponded, I gave the 
following views of the situation, on December 9th : 

" It is a clear, cold morning. The sky is without a cloud. Standing- 
near General Sumner's quarters, I have a wide sweep of vision. The 
quarters of the veteran general commanding the right grand division 
are in a spacious mansion, newly constructed, the property of a wealthy 



FKOM HARPER'S FERRY TO FREDERICKSBURG. 179 

planter, whose estate is somewhat shorn of its beauty by the ravages of 
war. The fences are all gone, the forests are fast disappearing, the fine 
range of cedars which lined the Belleplain road are no longer to be 
seen. All around are the white tents of the command, the innumerable 
camp-fires sending up blue columns of smoke. The air is calm. You 
hear the rumbling of distant baggage-trains, the clatter of hundreds of 
axes felling the forests for fuel, — the bugle-call of the cavalrymen, and 
the rataplan of the drummers, and mingling with all, the steady, 
constant flow of the falling waters of the winding stream. 

" Looking far off to the southeast, across the intervale of the river, 
you see a white cloud of steam moving beneath the fringe of a forest. 
It is a locomotive from Richmond, dragging its train of cars with sup- 
plies for the rebel camps. The forests and hills beyond are alive with 
men. Resting my glass against the side of the building to keep it 
steady, I can count the men grouped around the camp-fires, turning 
at times to keep themselves warm. Others are bringing in wood. An 
officer rides along. A train of wagons is winding down the hill toward 
the town. All along the range of hills are earthworks with sand-bag 
embrasures, and artillery behind, — -not quaker guns, I think, but field 
artillery, so ranged that a movement directly across the river would be 
inarching into the jaws of death, — as hazardous and destructive as 
the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava. 

" I know that there is a clamour for an onward movement, a desire 
and expectation for an advance ; but I think there are few men in the 
country who, after taking a look at the rebel positions, would like to 
lead in a movement across the stream. 

" Looking into the town of Fredericksburg, we see but few smokes 
ascending from the chimneys, but few people in the streets. It is 
almost wholly deserted. The women and children have gone to Rich- 
mond, or else are shivering in camp. Close upon the river bank on 
either side face the pickets, within easy talking distance of each other. 
There has been no shooting of late. There is constant badinage. The 
rebel picket asks the Yankee when he is going to Richmond. The 
Yankee asks the rebel if he don't want a pair of boots. I am sorry 
to say that such conversation is mixed with profane words. Each 
party seems to think that hard words hit hard." 

" Last night the southern sky was red with the blaze of rebel camp- 
fires. Far off to the southeast I see a hazy cloud, and columns of 
smoke, indicating the presence of a large army. I do not doubt that if 



180 THE BOYS OF '61. 

we attempt to cross we shall meet with terrible opposition from a force 
nearly if not quite as large as our own. 

" If the President or General Halleck insist upon Burnside's making 
the movement, it will be made with whatever power, energy, determina- 
tion, and bravery the army can exhibit. I am as anxious as any one 
can be to see a great blow given to the Rebellion ; but I am not at all 
anxious to see the attempt made against such disadvantages as are 
apparent to the most casual observer from this position." 

It was an unreasonable demand which the public made upon Burn- 
side. He had been just one month in command of the army. His first 
plan had failed through the remissness of others ; his second effort to 
move had been made abortive by the storm. He could not attempt 
again the movement with any hope of success, for Lee had taken pre- 
cautions against an attack upon his flank. Neither the public, the 
politician, nor the War Department would consent to his going into 
winter quarters. He had no alternative other than to devise a new 
plan. These considerations are to be kept in remembrance in reviewing 
the battle of Fredericksburg. 

General Burnside obtained correct information of the position held 
by General Lee. Jackson's corps was separated from Longstreet's by a 
ravine, but Lee had constructed a road through the woods and across 
a ravine, by which troops could be readily marched to the right or 
left, as they might be needed. He was satisfied that Lee did not expect 
him to cross at the town, but lower down the river. He decided, there- 
fore, to cross the Rappahannock, and make a desperate push to obtain 
possession of the rOad, which would divide Lee's army. 

The plan was accepted by a council of officers on the 10th of Decem- 
ber. Preparations were made that night for the passage of the river in 
three places. The artillery was drawn in position along the bank, — 
about one hundred and fifty pieces, some of which were thirty-pounders. 
Orders were issued to the troops to be ready at a moment's warning. 
General Woodbury, with a brigade of engineers, was ordered down to 
the river. 

Soon after dark on the night of the 10th, the brigade, with its long 
train of boats on wheels, came down from the Stafford hills. Boats 
sufficient for the construction of two bridges halted near the railroad ; 
enough for two more went a third of a mile down stream, opposite 
the lower end of the town, while the remainder went a mile and a half 



FROM HARPER'S FERRY TO FREDERICKSBURG. 183 

farther down, almost to Mr. Bernard's house. Sumner and Hooker 
were to use those opposite the town, and Franklin those at Burnard's. 
A brigade of troops was ordered to protect the engineers in their work. 
The gunners stood beside their guns, ready to open fire if the rebels 
opposed them. The engineers took the boats from the wagons, pushed 
them out over the thin ice, anchored them in the stream, and com- 
menced laying the timbers and planks. A dense fog hung over the 
river, which concealed their operations, and before daybreak the bridges 
were two-thirds completed. The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Mississippi 
regiments of Barksdale's brigade, and the Eighth Florida, of Perry's 
brigade, were on picket along the river, while the Thirteenth and 
Twenty-first Mississippi and Third Georgia were in reserye in the 
town. 

Lee was wary. He expected an advance of the Union army. His 
scouts were alert. All the commanders were ordered to be vigilant. 
So, keeping a sharp look out, the sentinels walked the bank through the 
long winter night, peering into the darkness, and listening to catch the 
meaning of the confused hum which floated to them across the stream. 



CHAPTER X. 

BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 

AT five o'clock on the morning of the 11th of December two signal- 
guns were fired on the heights of Fredericksburg. Deep and 
heavy their roar, rolling along the valley, echoing from hill to hill, and 
rousing tb.e sleepers of both armies. We who listened upon the Fal- 
mouth hills knew that the crossing was not a surprise. As the day 
dawned there came a rattling of musketry along the river. The enemy's 
pickets opened the fire. The gunners at the batteries were quick to 
respond, and sent grape and canister across the stream. The pickets 
at the lower bridges soon retired, and the engineers completed their 
work. But in the town the Mississippians took shelter in the build- 
ings, and poured a deadly fire upon the bridge-builders. Almost every 
soldier who attempted to carry out a plank fell. For a while the attempt 
was relinquished. 

"The bridge must be completed," said General Burnside. 

Once more the brave engineers attempted it. The fog still hung over 
the river. Those who stood on the northern bank could only see the 
flashes of the rifles on the other shore. The gunners were obliged to 
fire at random, but so energetic was their fire the engineers were able 
to carry the bridge within eighty or ninety feet of the shore, and then 
so deadly in turn was the fire of the Confederates that it was murder to 
send men out with a plank. 

General Burnside stood on the piazza of the Phillips House, a mile 
from the pontoons. General Sumner and General Hooker were there. 
Aids and couriers came and went with messages and orders. 

" My bridge is completed, and I am ready to cross," was Franklin's 
message at half-past nine. 

" You must wait till the upper bridge is completed," was the reply to 
Franklin. 

Two hours passed. A half-dozen attempts were made to complete the 
upper bridge, without success. Brave men not belonging to the engineers 
came down to the bank, surveyed the scene, and then, volunteering their 

184 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 



185 



services, seized planks and boards, ran out upon the bridge, but only to fall 
before the sharpshooters concealed in the cellars of the houses not ten 
rods distant. Captain Brainard of the Fiftieth New York, with eleven 
men, volunteered to finish the nearly completed work. They went out 
upon the run. Five fell at one volley, and the rest returned. Captain 
Perkins of the same regiment led another party. He fell, with a ghastly 
wound in his neck. Half of his men were killed or wounded. These 



S^-^ 




CONFEDERATE SHARPSHOOTERS. 

were sacrifices of life with nothing gained. It was soul-inspiring to 
witness such heroic devotion, but heart-sickening to stand on the bank 
and see them slaughtered, — their blood turning to crimson the turbid 
waters of the Rappahannock. 

General Burnside had no desire to injure the town, but under the 
usages of war he had a right to bombard it ; for the Confederates had 
concealed themselves in the houses, making use of them to slaughter 
his men. 

" Bring all your guns to bear upon the city and batter it down," was 
the order issued to General Hunt, chief of artillery. Colonel Hays had 



186 THE BOYS OF '61. 

eight batteries on the right; Colonel Tompkins had eleven batteries on 
the right centre, opposite the upper pontoons, — some of them in the 
yard of Mr. Lacey's house, near the river; Colonel Tyler had seven 
batteries a little farther down on the left centre ; while Captain De 
Russey had seven batteries opposite the lower pontoons. There were in 
all thirty-five batteries, with a total of one hundred and seventy-nine 
guns, all bearing upon the town. The artillerymen received the orders 
to prepare for action with a hurrah. They had chafed all the morning, 
and longed for an opportunity to avenge the death of their gallant 
comrades. 

The hour had come. They sprang to their pieces. The fire ran 
from the right to the left, — from the heavy twenty -four-pounders on 
the heights of Falmouth to the smaller pieces on the hills where Wash- 
ington passed his boyhood. The air became thick with murky clouds. 
The earth shook beneath the terrific explosions of the shells, which went 
howling over the river, crashing into the houses, battering down walls, 
splintering doors, ripping up floors. Sixty solid shot and shells a 
minute were thrown, and the bombardment was kept up till nine 
thousand were fired. No hot shot were used, but the explosions set 
fire to a block of buildings, which added terrible grandeur to the scene. 

The fog lifted at last and revealed the town. The streets were 
deserted, but the houses, the church steeples, the stores were riddled 
with shot ; yet no impression had been made on the Mississippians. 

Burnside's artillerymen could not depress their guns sufficiently to 
shell them out. A working party went out upon the bridge, but one 
after another was killed or wounded. 

The time had come for a bold movement. It was plain that the 
Mississippians must be driven out before the bridge could be completed, 
and that a party must go over in boats, charge up the hill, and rout 
them from their hiding-places. Who would go? Who attempt the 
hazardous enterprise? There were brave men standing on the bank by 
the Lacey house, who had watched the proceedings during the long 
hours. They were accustomed to hard fighting : Hall's brigade, com- 
posed of the Seventh Michigan, Nineteenth and Twentieth Massachusetts, 
and Forty-second New York. They had fought at Fair Oaks, Savage 
Station, Glendale, Malvern, and Antietam. The Twentieth had been in 
all these battles, and also at Ball's Bluff. 

" We will go over and clean out the rebels," shouted the men of the 
brigade. 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 189 

" You shall have the privilege of doing so," said General Burnside. 

There were not boats enough for all — not enough for one regiment 
even. A portion of the Seventh Michigan was selected to go first, while 
the other regiments stood as a supporting force. 

The men run down the winding path to the water's edge, jump into 
the boats, and push out into the stream. It is a moment of intense 
anxiety. No one knows how large the force opposing them. The rebel 
sharpshooters are watching the movement from their hiding-places. 
They have a fair view and can pick their men. The men in the boats 
know it, yet they move steadily onward, steering straight across the 
stream, without a thought of turning back, though their comrades are 
falling, — some headlong into the river, others dropping into the boats. 
The oarsmen pull with rapid strokes. When one falls another takes 
his place. Two-thirds the distance over, — the boats ground in shoal 
water. The soldiers wait for no word of command, but with a common 
impulse, with an ardour which stops not to count the cost, they leap into 
the water, wade to the shore, and charge up the bank. Some fall to rise 
no more, but their surviving comrades rush up the slippery slope. A 
loud hurrah rings out from the soldiers who watch them from the Fal- 
mouth shore. Up, up they go, facing death, firing not, intent only to 
get at the foe and win victory with the bayonet ! They smash the 
windows, batter down doors, driving or capturing the foe. 

Loud and hearty the cheers of the regiments upon the other shore. 
The men of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Massachusetts would give 
anything to be there. All the while the cannon are roaring, hurling 
solid shot and shell into the doomed city. 

When the bridge-builders saw the soldiers charge up the hill, they too 
caught the enthusiasm of the moment, and finished their work. The 
other regiments of the brigade, before the last planks were laid, rushed 
down the bank, ran out upon the bridge, dashed up the bank, joined their 
comrades, and drove the Confederates from the streets nearest the river. 

History furnishes but few records of more daring exploits than this 
action of the Seventh Michigan. Their work was thorough and com- 
plete. In fifteen minutes they cleared the houses in front of them, and 
took more prisoners than their own party numbered. 

I stood upon the bank of the river and beheld the scene in the deep- 
ening twilight. Far up the streets there were bright flashes from the 
muskets of the Confederates, who fired from cellars, chamber windows, 
and from sheltered places. Nearer were dark masses of men in blue, 



190 THE BOYS OF '61. 

who gave quick volleys as they moved steadily on, demolishing doors, 
crushing in windows, and searching every hiding-place. Cannon were 
flaming on all the hills, and the whole country was aglow with the camp- 
fires of the two great armies. The Stafford hills were alive with men, — 
regiments, brigades, and divisions moving in column from their encamp- 
ments to cross the river. The sky was without a cloud. The town was 
lighted by lurid flames. The air was full of hissings — the sharp, cut- 
ting sounds of the leaden rain. The great twenty-pounder guns on the 
heights of Falmouth were roaring the while. There were shouts, 
hurrahs, yells, and groans from the streets. 

When the soldiers of the Seventh Michigan leaped into the boats, a 
drummer-boy joined them, — Robert Henry Hendershot. He was only 
twelve years old, but his dark eyes flashed brightly under the excitement 
of the moment. His drum was upon his neck. 

" Get out, you can't go," said an officer. 

" I want to go," said Robert. 

" No, you will get shot. Out with you." 

Robert jumped into the water, but instead of going ashore, remained, 
to push off the boat ; and then, instead of letting go his hold, clung to 
the gunwale, and was taken across. 

As the boat grounded upon the other shore, a piece of shell tore 
through his drum. He threw it away, seized the gun of a fallen soldier, 
rushed up the hill, and came upon a soldier, slightly wounded. " Sur- 
render ! " said Robert, pointing his gun at him. The man gave up his 
gun, and Robert marched him to the rear. When he returned to the 
other side of the river, General Burnside saw him, and said : 

" Boy, I glory in your spunk ! If you keep on in this way a few more 
years, you will be in my place." 

As the Confederates had used the houses for a defence, the soldiers, 
now that they were in possession of the town, appropriated to their own 
use whatever suited their fancy. Their great desire was to obtain 
tobacco, and the tobacco shops were first broken open. A large quantity 
had been thrown into the river by the authorities, to prevent its falling 
into the hands of the Yankees ; but the soldiers soon fished it up, dried 
it by their bivouac fires, and through the long night, while keeping 
watch, enjoyed their pipes at the expense of the enemy. Those who did 
not care for tobacco helped themselves to flour, meat, potatoes, sugar, 
and molasses. They had a merry night cooking bacon and eggs, frying 
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BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 193 

beds, blankets, carpets, sofas, rocking-chairs, settees, and lounges were 
carried into the streets. Some dressed themselves in old-fashioned and 
antiquated clothes which they found in the chambers. 

It was a carnival night. One fellow appropriated a heavy volume of 
Congressional documents, which he carried about several days. Another 
found a stuffed monkey in one of the houses, which he shouldered and 
bore away. One soldier had a dozen custard-cups on a string around his 
neck. Another, finding a nice beaver hat, threw aside his old cap and 
took his place again in the ranks, the sport of all his comrades, for 
being so nice a gentleman. It was not, however, an indiscriminate pil- 
lage of the whole town. A great many dwellings were not entered at 
all, and the owners, after the evacuation of the city, found their premises 
but little injured. In the houses nearest the river the soldiers felt that 
they were entitled to whatever they could lay their hands on. But those 
who had taken mattresses and bedding were obliged to give them up. 
The surgeons in charge of the hospitals seized the articles for the bene- 
fit of the wounded. 

" Rev. Arthur B. Fuller is killed," said an acquaintance, as I stood 
upon the bank of the river. " His body is lying in the street." 

He had been chaplain of the Massachusetts Sixteenth through all the 
Peninsula campaign, working hard day and night in the hospital, till his 
health had given out, and he had been honourably discharged. He had 
preached his last sermon on the Sunday before ; but although no longer 
in the service, knowing that there was to be a great battle, so intense 
was his patriotism that he could not go away, but remained to do what 
he could. He took a musket, became a volunteer, and went over with 
the regiments. 

" I must do something for my country. What shall I do ?" he asked 
of Captain Dunn in the streets of Fredericksburg on that fatal 
evening. 

" Now is a good time for you, fall in on the left," said the captain, 
who saw that he was cool and collected, although the bullets were fall- 
ing thick and fast around them. He stood in front of a grocery store, 
loaded his musket and fired, and then coolly loaded again. He was 
taking aim once more when he was shot by a sharpshooter. The Con- 
federates advanced, and Captain Dunn was obliged to fall back. He lay 
where he fell till the enemy were driven from the town, when his body 
was recovered. The soldiers of his regiment, who had listened to his 
teachings in life, came in groups to gaze with silent sorrow upon the 



194 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



marble brow of him who had been a faithful teacher, and who gave his 
life freely for his country. 

Foothold having been secured on the southern bank of the Rappahan- 
nock, the army began to cross. A third pontoon bridge was constructed 
at the lower end of the town. A thick fog hung over the river on the 
morning of the 12th. The air was calm, and I could distinctly hear 

the confused hum of preparation 
for the great battle. Burnside's 
troops were moving into posi- 
tion, and so were Lee's ; but all 
the movements of both armies 
were concealed by the fog. 

At noon the fog disappeared, 
drifting up the Rappahannock. 
Suddenly the batteries on the 
hills above the town began to 
throw shells upon the Second 
Corps, which had crossed the 
upper bridge and was forming 
in the streets. Colonel Tyler, 
who commanded the heavy guns 
on the Falmouth hills, was quick 
to reply. The batteries in the 
centre also opened, as did those 
on the left. 

The First and Sixth Corps, 
under Franklin, had crossed at the lower bridge by the house of Mr. 
Bernard, and were moving over the wide plain. The house, in which 
Franklin had established his headquarters, was a fine old mansion sur- 
rounded by trees. Beyond the house there was a smooth intervale, with 
here and there a hollow, where the troops could find shelter from the 
artillery fire of the enemy. 

General Stoneman was moving down from the Falmouth hills with 
Birney's and Sickles's divisions. Opposite Falmouth, on the Confederate 
left, was Longstreet's corps, with Anderson's division on Stanisbury Hill, 
— his pickets stationed along the canal which winds around its base. 
Next to Anderson was Ransom's division, on Maryee's Hill, directly in 
rear of the town. Two roads run up the hill, leading west, — the Gor- 
donsville Plank road and the Orange turnpike. Mr. Maryee's house 




MAJOR-GENERAL \VM. B. FRANKLIN. 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 195 

stands between them. It is a fine brick dwelling, with a stately portico 
before it, with a beautiful lawn sloping towards the city, shaded by oaks 
and adorned with flowering shrubs. From the roof of the mansion 
General Longstreet can obtain a fair view of what is going on in the 
Union lines. He can see the troops gathering in the streets and 
behold the dark masses under Franklin moving out past the Burnard 
house. 

At the base of the hill he can see some of his own soldiers, sheltered 
behind a stone wall along the Old Telegraph road, which is dug like a 
canal into the side of the hill. It is a sheltered position, and their rifles 
and muskets will sweep the level field in front towards the town. His 
heaviest cannon and his largest howitzers are in position around 
Maryee's house, behind earthworks. The Washington Artillery, which 
was in the first battle of Manassas, and which fought through all the 
battles of the Peninsula, at Groveton and Antietam, is there. 

Ransom's division extends to Hazel Run, — a stream which comes 
down through a deep ravine from the west, gurgling over a rocky bed, 
and turning the great wheel of a grist-mill, just hid from sight as you 
look up the river from the town. An unfinished railroad embankment 
is thrown up in the run, — the Gordonsville road, — which was in con- 
struction when the war broke out. There is a hollow in the smooth 
field in front of the telegraph road, — a place to be kept in remembrance. 
There is a higher elevation beyond Maryee's house, which overlooks the 
town, and all the plain below, called Lee's Hill, where Lee has placed 
his guns of longest range. 

Across the ravine is McLaw's division, behind an embankment which 
extends up the hill and into the woods along the Telegraph road. Be- 
yond McLaw's is Pickett's division ; then Hood's division, which forms 
the right of Longstreet's command, and reaches to Deep Run. Long- 
street's headquarters are in rear of Hood. 

Across Deep Run are the headquarters of Lee, who can stand by his 
tent and look down upon the battle-field. He can see what Couch and 
Wilcox are doing in the town. He is directly in front of Burnard's 
mansion, and can also behold all the movements of the Union troops on 
the plain. A. P. Hill's division of Jackson's corps is in front of him, 
— Hill's left resting on Deep Run, and his right reaching to Captain 
Hamilton's house, where the railroad crosses the old Richmond road. 
Hill's troops are partially concealed in the woods. Behind Hill are the 
divisions of Early and Taliaferro, — Taliaferro being on the right, near 



196 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Hamilton's house. Farther in the rear, on the hill, is D. H. Hill's divi- 
sion, which is held in reserve. 

Mr. Bernard has been a large slaveholder. His estate is known in 
the country round by the name of Mansfield. His negroes live in hum- 
ble homes, — in cabins near the railroad, out towards Hamilton's. 
There, around the cabins, Jackson has placed twenty-one guns. To 
the right of these, and between Burnard's and the railroad, are twelve 
guns. 

The road from Fredericksburg to Port Royal runs parallel to the 
river, about half a mile distant from the stream. 

General Stuart, with two brigades of cavalry and his batteries of light 
artillery, holds the road. The Louisiana Guards are sent down to aid 
him. His line runs nearly at right angles with Jackson's infantry line, 
and extends from the railroad to the river. His batteries will have 
a cross-fire upon the First and Sixth Corps, whenever they attempt 
to move out from Bernard's to gain possession of the railroad at 
Hamilton's. 

Such is the field, — a smooth plain, a mile wide and two miles long, 
around Bernard's, reaching up to the town. Bernard's farm is cut 
across by the Port Royal road, the old road to Richmond, and by the 
railroad. The Port Royal road is bordered by cedars, thick-set hedges, 
and a deep ditch. There are fences dividing the intervale into fields. 
Deep Run is fringed with alders. Maryee's Hill is quite steep. The 
rebel cannon sweep all the plain, the field at the base of Maryee's, and 
ihe town itself. The Confederate troops have the protection of the 
sunken road, of the rifle-pits along the crests of the hills. They are 
;sheltered by woods, by ravines, by the hedges and fences, but Burnside 
lias no cover for his troops. They must march out upon the plain, 
charge up the hillsides, and receive the fire of a sheltered foe. 

To win a victory, even with a superior force, under such circum- 
stances, there must be not only great courage and self-possession, but a 
well-laid plan and harmonious action of all subordinate commanders. 

Burnside's plan was to make a vigourous movement with a large por- 
tion of his army to gain the railroad at Hamilton's house, and at the 
same time rout Longstreet from his position on Maryee's Hill. If he 
succeeded at Hamilton's, even if he failed at Maryee's, Lee would be 
compelled to evacuate the town, because Burnside would hold the rail- 
road over which Lee received his supplies. 

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BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 199 

Franklin, who had about sixty thousand men, urged such a movement 
on the left. There was delay in issuing the orders, which gave Lee 
ample time to strengthen his position. The plan adopted was substan- 
tially that which Franklin had urged. These were Burnside's directions 
to Franklin : 

" General Hardee will carry this despatch to you, and remain with you 
through the day. The general commanding directs that you keep your 
whole command in ' position ' for a rapid movement down the old Rich- 
mond road ; and you will send out at once a division, at least, to pass 
below Smithfield, to seize, if possible, the heights near Captain Hamil- 
ton's, on this side of the Massaponax, taking care to keep it well 
supported and its line of retreat open. He has ordered another column 
of a division or more to be moved from General Sumner's command, up 
the Plank road to its intersection with the Telegraph road, where they 
will divide, with a view of seizing the heights on both these roads. 
Holding these heights, with the heights near Captain Hamilton's, will, 
he hopes, compel the enemy to evacuate the whole ridge between these 
points." 

In a letter to General Halleck, written on the 19th, a week after the 
battle, General Burnside explains his plan more fully. 

" The enemy," he says, " had cut a road in rear of the line of heights 
where we made our attack, by means of which they connected the two 
wings of their army and avoided a long detour around through a bad 
country. I obtained from a coloured man information in regard to this 
road, which proved to be correct. I wanted to obtain possession of this 
road, and that was my reason for making my attack on the extreme 
left. I did not intend to make an attack on the right till that position 
was taken, which I supposed would stagger the enemy, cutting their line 
in two ; and then I proposed to make a direct attack in front and drive 
them out of their works." 

The day (the 12th) passed, and night came on before the army was 
in position to make the attack. At sunset the batteries along the lines 
opened fire, but the shells for the most part burst harmlessly, and the 
soldiers, accustomed to danger, cooked their coffee by the glimmering 
bivouac fires, spread their blankets on the ground, and lay down to sleep, 
giving no heed to the cannon's roar or the constant firing along the 
picket lines. 

The morning of the 13th dawned. A thick fog hung over the river, 
so dense that it was hardly possible to distinguish objects a hundred 



200 THE BOYS OF '61. 

yards distant. General Sumner's headquarters were by the house of 
Mr. Phillips, north of the river. General Burnside rode down from his 
own headquarters, and met General Sumner and General Hooker, and 
other officers. He wore an anxious look, and justly, for it was the most 
responsible hour of his life. Up to that time all of his well-laid plans 
had failed. He had hoped to cross the river and surprise the enemy, 
but two days had passed since the beginning of the movement, giving 
Lee time to strengthen his defences. Now the fog hung over the river, 
and he was afraid of collision between different divisions of his troops. 
But a password was whispered along the lines, and orders were issued to 
go forward. 

While the troops were waiting for the advance the mails arrived. 
How eagerly were the letters and papers grasped by the soldiers ! It 
was affecting to see them, as they read the words of love from home, 
dash the tears from their eyes. Home was dear to them just then. 

The fog began to drift along the valley. It was like the drawing 
aside of a curtain. The entire battle-field was in view. Two signal-guns 
were fired in quick succession by the Confederates far down on the left 
in front of Franklin. There was a quick mounting of horses at Burn- 
side's headquarters. The officers had received their final orders, and 
dashed away to carry them into execution. 

The main attack was to be led by Franklin. He had his own two 
corps, numbering forty thousand ; Stoneman was moving to his support 
with twenty thousand, and Butterfield, with the Fifth Corps, could be 
called to aid him if needed. 

I had a fair view of the entire battle-field. The position was below 
the town, near the lower bridge, on the Washington farm. Confederate 
officers were riding to and fro around Maryee's house. The gunners of 
the Washington Artillery were leaning upon their pieces, watching the 
movements in the town. The Second Corps had moved out from the 
streets past the old burying-ground, and was near the gas-works. The 
right of the line extended north of the Plank road to the monument 
erected to the memory of Washington's mother. 

General French's division of the Second Corps was on the right ; 
General Hancock's was next in the line, with Howard's division, as 
reserve, in the rear. The Second Corps batteries were standing in the 
streets of the town, the officers vainly seeking positions where they could 
fire upon the Confederate batteries, which looked down upon them from 
Maryee's Hill. 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 



201 



The Ninth Corps under Wilcox was joined to the Second Corps, and 
occupied the lower end of the town. General Sturgis's division was in 
front, with Whipple's, forming the second line. Burns's division was in 
reserve, near Deep Run. The Confederate ammunition trains were in 
sight far up Hazel Run, and on the distant hill there was a group of 
officers around Longstreet's headquarters. Troops and teams were 
passing to and fro between Hood's and Pickett's divisions. 

The battle was begun by General Meade, his division having been 
selected to lead the advance towards the railroad crossing. The Buck- 
tails, who had been in nearly all the 
engagements on the Peninsula, who 
first exhibited their valour at Drains- 
ville, who were under Hooker at An- 
tietam, were first engaged. They moved 
over the open field beyond Bernard's, 
and drove the enemy's skirmishers. 
The rebel batteries — Latham's, John- 
son's, Mcintosh's, Pegram's, and Cren- 
shaw's — opened a heavy fire. Jackson 
knew the importance of holding the 
position at Hamilton's and had massed 
these batteries, which gave a concen- 
trated fire upon the advancing force. 
Reynolds's artillery galloped into posi- 
tion and replied ; and so for an hour 
the pounding of the batteries went on 




along the left. 



MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN GIBBON. 



Meade's division was composed of three brigades. 

Sinclair's brigade was in the front line, and Magilton's three hundred 
paces in rear of it. Jackson's was in rear of the left of the two lines, 
with his men in column of regiments, about one hundred paces in rear 
of Magilton's line. These three brigades numbered about six thousand 
men. 

It was just nine o'clock when Meade moved from his position near the 
Bernard house. 

He turned the head of his column to the south, and moved to the 
Bowling Green or old Richmond road, where he was obliged to stop 
while the pioneers could cut away the hedges, level the sod fences, and 
bridge the ditches, in order that his artillery could pass. While he was 



202 THE BOYS OF '61. 

doing this, Stuart's batteries opened fire. They were on Meade's left 
flank and enfiladed his lines, throwing shells directly up the road. 
Meade apprehended an immediate attack on his left flank, and swung 
his second brigade towards Stuart, facing east, while his first brigade 
was still facing south towards Hamilton's crossing. His line thus made 
two sides of a square. There was a little knoll on the left of the First 
Brigade. 

" That is the place for you," said Meade to Cooper and Ransom. The 
batteries were quickly wheeled into the position indicated. The gunners 
had a fair view of the rebel batteries over the level plain. Simpson 
brought his battery up and placed it in front of the Third Brigade, and 
replied to Pegram. Such was the opening of the battle. 

Meanwhile Doubleday was pushing down by the river. When the 
Confederate batteries opened fire, he brought his own into position and 
gave a cross-fire, which was so severe that Stuart's Rockbridge battery 
was quickly silenced and the guns withdrawn. While this was going 
on, a body of Confederate sharpshooters crept up by the hedges and 
commenced firing ; but two companies of marksmen were sent out by 
General Jackson's brigade, which drove them back. 

An hour passed before Meade was ready to move again. Doubleday 
had advanced towards Stuart, but Gibbon was not yet upon Meade's 
right. 

Stonewall Jackson, seeing that Doubleday was moving down the river, 
thought that it was Franklin's intention to turn his right flank. D. H. 
Hill's division, which was close by Hamilton's house, was sent upon the 
double-quick to help Stuart hold his line.* This weakened his centre. 
It was at this auspicious moment that Meade's division advanced alone 
to pierce the rebel line. 

It was twelve o'clock, and Franklin's force was in the following 
position : Doubleday on the left, well down towards Stuart, his batteries 
in full play ; Meade thirty or forty rods beyond the Bowling Green 
road, in the open field ; Gibbon and Newton just over the road ; Howe 
up to it; Birney and Sickles filing out from the bridges, a mile in 
rear of Meade. 

All of Franklin's batteries which were in position, one hundred - 

and sixteen guns, commenced a rapid fire upon the woods beyond t J J " e 

railroad, to protect Meade in his advance. De Russey opened with ' u h ls 

r 

♦Jackson's Report. 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 203 

sixty pieces from the hills north of the Rappahannock, throwing shells 
over the heads of the advancing troops. 

Jackson's batteries were equally active. There were twenty-one guns 
by the negro cabins in front of Howe, twelve in front of Newton, 
fourteen in front of Meade, while other single batteries under Stuart 
were playing on the left. More than two hundred and fifty pieces 
were roaring as Meade advanced. 

It was a magnificent spectacle ; but it was a moment of anxiety to 
Burnside, who could only judge of the progress of the battle by the 
following despatches, received from time to time. 

" Headquarters, Franklin's Grand Division, 
December 13, 7.40 a. m. 
General Burnside : — 

" General Meade's division is to make the movement from our left ; 
but it is just reported that the enemy's skirmishers are advancing, 
indicating an attack upon our position on the left." 

" 9 o'clock A. M. 
" General Meade just moved out. Doubleday supports him. Meade's 
skirmishers engaged, however, at once with enemy's skirmishers. Bat- 
tery opening, on Meade, probably, from position on old Richmond road." 

"11 o'clock A. M. 

" Meade advanced half a mile, and holds on. Infantry of enemy in 
woods in front of extreme left, also in front of Howe. No loss, so 
far, of great importance. General Vinton badly, but not dangerously 
wounded. 

" Later. — Reynolds has been forced to develop his whole line. 

" An attack of some force of enemy's troops on our left seems 
probable, as far as can now be judged. Stoneman has been directed to 
cross one division to support our left. Report of cavalry pickets from 
the other side of the river, that enemy's troops were moving down the 
river on this side during the latter part of the night. Howe's pickets 
reported movements in their front, same direction. Still they have a 
strong force well posted, with batteries, there." 

"12 o'clock m. 
" Birney's division is now getting- into position. That done, Reynolds 
will order Meade to advance. Batteries over the river are to shell the 
enemy's position in the woods in front of Reynolds's left. He thinks 



204 THE BOYS OF '61. 

the effect will be to protect Meade's advance. A column of the 
enemy's infantry is passing along the crest of the hills from right to 
left, as we look at it." 

"12.05 p. m. 
" General Meade's line is advancing in the direction you prescribed 
this morning." 

" 1 o'clock P. M. 
" Enemy opened a battery on Reynolds, enfilading Meade. Reynolds 
has opened all his batteries on it; no report yet. Reynolds hotly 
engaged at this moment. Will report in a few moments again." 

" 1.15 o'clock p. m. 
" Heavy engagements of infantry. Enemy in force where battery 
is. Meade is assaulting the hill. Will report in a few minutes again." 

"1.25 o'clock p. m. 
" Meade is in the woods in his front ; seems to be able to hold on. 
Reynolds will push Gibbon in, if necessary. The battery and woods 
referred to must be near Hamilton's house. The infantry firing is 
prolonged and quite heavy. Things look well enough. Men in fine 
spirits." 

"1.40 o'clock p. m. 
" Meade having carried a portion of the enemy's position in the 
woods, we have three hundred prisoners. Enemy's battery on extreme 
left retired. Tough work ; men fight well. Gibbon has advanced to 
Meade's right ; men fight well, driving the enemy. Meade has suffered 
severely. Doubleday to Meade's left, — not engaged." 

" 2.15 o'clock p. m. 
" Gibbon and Meade driven back from the woods. Newton gone 
forward. Jackson's corps of the enemy attacks on the left. General 
Gibbon slightly wounded. General Bayard mortally wounded by a 
shell. Things do not look as well on Reynolds's front ; still, we '11 
have new troops in soon." 

" 2.25 p. m. 
" Despatch received. Franklin will do his best. New troops gone 
in. Will report soon again." 

" 3 o'clock p. m. 
" Reynolds seems to be holding his own. Things look better, 
somewhat." 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 205 

" 3.40 o'clock p. m. 

" Gibbon's and Meade's divisions are badly used up, and I fear 
another advance on the enemy on our left cannot be made this after- 
noon. Doubleday's division will replace Meade's as soon as it can be 
collected, and, if it be done in time, of course another attack will 
be made. 

" The enemy are in force in the woods on our left, towards 
Hamilton's, and are threatening the safety of that portion of our line. 
They seem to have detached a portion of their force to our front, where 
Howe and Brooks are now engaged. Brooks- has some prisoners, and 
is down to the railroad. Just as soon as the left is safe, our forces here 
will be prepared for a front attack, but it may be too late this after- 
noon. Indeed, we are engaged in front, anyhow. Notwithstanding the 
unpleasant items I relate, the morale generally of the troops is good." 

" 4.30 o'clock p. M. 
" The enemy is still in force on our left and front. An attack on 
our batteries in front has been repulsed. A new attack has just opened 
on our left, but the left is safe, though it is too late to advance either 
to the left or front." 

Such was the intelligence which reached General Burnside of the 
operations on the left. It was not very encouraging. He expected that 
Franklin, with sixty thousand men at his disposal, would sweep Jackson 
from his position by Hamilton's and thus gain the rear of Lee's left 
flank, which would make it easy for Sumner with the right wing to 
break through the line in rear of the town. Instead of throwing forty 
thousand men upon Jackson, as he could have done, dealing a blow 
which might have broken the enemy's lines, Meade's division alone was 
sent forward. The fire of the batteries was terrific as he advanced, and 
so severe was the cannonade that the Confederate batteries which had 
been advanced from the main line were forced to retire, with two 
caissons blown up and several guns disabled. 

As the troops moved on they came to a hollow before reaching the 
railroad. They halted a moment on the edge of the depression and cor- 
rected their lines. It was a clear field to the railroad embankment, 
behind wh positfr e y c °uld see the gleaming of the sunlight on the bay- 
onets of ^dinglHill's division. 

Meade' the ribiV^igades were now in liny the First on the right, with 



206 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



the Sixth Regiment of the Reserves thrown out as skirmishers ; the 
Second in the centre, and the Third on the left. 

The direction of Meade's advance brought him against Lane's and 
Archer's brigades. They were on the railroad and in the woods. There 
was a gap between the brigades, and there Meade drove the entering 
wedge. It was a fierce and bloody contest along the railroad, in the 
woods, upon the hillside, in the ravine, on the open plain, and on the 
crest of the ridge. The fourteen guns on the hill poured a murderous 
fire into Meade's left flank. The guns by Deep Run, in front of Pen- 
der's brigade, enfiladed the line from the right, while in reserve were 
two full brigades, — Thomas's and Gregg's, — to fill the gap. But not- 
withstanding this, Meade, unsupported, charged down the slope, through 
the hollow, up to the railroad, and over it, routing the Fourteenth Ten- 
nessee and Nineteenth Georgia, of Archer's, and the whole of Lane's 
brigade. With a cheer the Union troops went up the hill, crawling 
through the thick underbrush, to the crest, doubling up Archer and 
knocking Lane completely out of the line. It was as if a Herculean 
destroyer had crumbled, with a sledge-hammer stroke, the keystone of 
an arch, leaving the whole structure in danger of immediate and irre- 
trievable ruin. 

Archer shifted the Fifth Alabama from his right to his left, but was 
not able to stop the advancing Union troops. He had already sent to 
Gregg for help, and that officer was putting his troops in motion. He 
had sent to Ewell, who was by Hamilton's, and Trimble and Lawton 
were getting ready to move, Lane was still running, and the gap was 
widening between Archer and Pender. 

Gibbon ought to have been following Meade, driving up the hill 
through the gap, but he halted at the railroad ; his men were loth to 
move, for Pender's batteries were cutting across his flank. Howe and 
Newton and Brooks were by the Bowling Green road, showing no signs 
of advancing. Sickles and Birney were almost back to Burnard's man- 
sion. Doubleday was holding the flank against Stuart, and Meade was 
struggling alone. 

Gibbon, the nearest support to Meade, was nearly half a mile distant. 
That officer was wounded while the fight was hot ~ st, but of the part 
which he was performing he says : 

" As soon as the enemy's guns sickened fire, I saw 6'clocial Meade's 
troops moving forward into action, and I at once sent ord looko my lead- 
ing brigade to advance and engage the enemy. Sh^"" 1 erwards I 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 



207 



ordered up another brigade to support the first. The fire was very 
heavy from the enemy's infantry, and I ordered up the Third Brigade 
and formed it in column on the right of my line, and directed them to 




"WITH A CHEER THE UNION TROOPS WENT UP THE HILL. 

take the position with the bayonet, having previously given that order 
to the leading brigade. But the general commanding that brigade told 
me that the noise and confusion was such that it was impossible to get 



208 THE BOYS OF '61. 

the men to charge, or to get them to hear any order to charge. The 
Third Brigade — my last brigade — went in and took the position with 
the bayonet, and captured a considerable number of prisoners. During 
the fighting of the infantry I was establishing the batteries which be- 
longed to my division in position to assist in the assault. I had just 
received the report of the success of this Third Brigade, when, shortly 
after, I saw a regiment of rebel infantry come out on the left of my 
line between myself and General Meade. I rode up towards a battery 
that was on their left, and directed them to open fire upon that regi- 
ment. I was riding back towards the right of my line, when I was 
wounded, and left the field about half -past two o'clock in the afternoon, 
I think." 

It will be seen by Franklin's despatches that Meade had broken the 
line before Gibbon was engaged. At 1.15 p. m., he telegraphed to Burn- 
side, " Meade is assaulting the hill." Ten minutes later, at 1.25 p. m., 
" Reynolds will push Gibbon in if necessary." At 1.40 P. M., " Meade 
has carried a portion of the enemy's position in the woods. We have 
three hundred prisoners. Gibbon has advanced to Meade's right." 

It was in this advance to the railroad, when Gibbon came in collision 
with Pender's and Thomas's brigades, that Gibbon was wounded. 

While this was going on in front, the Second and Third Brigades of 
Meade were enveloping Gregg's brigade of South Carolinians, which had 
been hurried up to retrieve the disaster to the line. There was a short 
but bloody contest. Three hundred South Carolinians fell in that strug- 
gle, including their commander, General Gregg, who was mortally 
wounded. 

It was a critical moment with Stonewall Jackson. The whole of 
Ewell's division, under the command of General Early, was brought up 
to regain the ground. Lawton's brigade came first upon the Peimsyl- 
vanians, followed by Hayes's, Trimble's and Field's brigades, with 
Early's own, commanded by Colonel Walker. 

Had Newton, Howe, Brooks, Sickles, and Birney been near at hand, 
or had Gibbon been pushed promptly and effectively to Meade's support, 
the record of that bloody day would have been far different from what 
it is. But they were not there. They had not even been ordered to 
advance ! 

The divisions of Howe and Newton and Sickles were slightly engaged 
later in the day, but only in repulsing a second advance of the Confed- 
erates. The attack which Meade had opened so gallantly, and which 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 209 

was attended with such good success, had failed. Less than ten thou- 
sand men had broken the enemy's line, and opened the way to victory. 
Of the sixty thousand men at Franklin's disposal not more than sixteen 
or eighteen thousand were engaged during the day, and of those not 
more than eight thousand at any one time. 

General Franklin, in vindicating himself from censure for not attack- 
ing with a larger force and more vigorously, falls back on the clause in 
Burnside's order, " to attack with one division at least, and to keep it 
well supported." It would have been better if Burnside had given ex- 
plicit instructions. There must be some latitude allowed to subordinates, 
but there are very few men who, without particular instructions, can 
enter fully into the plans and intentions of the commander-in-chief. 
Franklin was constitutionally sluggish in his movements. The attack 
on the left required boldness, energy, and perseverance. Sumner was 
the man for the place. Burnside was peculiarly unfortunate in the 
selection of commanders to carry out the particular features of his plan ; 
but Sumner having been first to arrive at Falmouth, and having taken 
position, it was not easy to make the change. 

While the battle was raging on the left I rode over the plain. The 
cavalry under General Bayard was drawn up in rear of the grove sur- 
rounding the fine old Burnard mansion. General Bayard was sitting at 
the foot of a tree, waiting for orders, and watching the advancing 
columns of Meade and Gibbon. There was a group of officers around 
General Franklin. Howe's and Newton's divisions were lying down to 
avoid the rebel shells, hurled from the heights beyond the railroad. 
All of Franklin's guns were in play. The earth shook with the deep 
concussion. Suddenly the Confederate batteries opened with redoubled 
fury. A shot went over my head, a second fell in front of my horse,, 
and ploughed a furrow in the ground ; a third exploded at my right, a, 
fourth went singing along the line of a regiment lying prostrate on the 
earth. Meade was driving up the hill. Wounded men were creeping., 
crawling, and hobbling towards the hospital. Some, slightly wounded, 
were uttering fearful groans, while others, made of sterner stuff, though 
torn and mangled, bore their pains without a murmur. 

A soldier, with his arms around the necks of two of his comrades, 
was being brought in. " dear ! Lord ! my foot is torn all to 
pieces ! " he cried. 

There was a hole in the toe of his boot where the ball had entered. 

" It has gone clear through to the heel, and smashed all the bones. 



210 THE BOYS OF '01. 

dear! dear! I shall have to have it cut off!" he cried, moaning 
piteously as his comrades laid him upon the ground to rest. 

" Better cut off your boot before your foot swells." 

" Yes, — do so." 

I slipped ray knife through the leather, and took the boot from his 
foot. The ball had passed through his stocking. There was but a drop 
or two of blood visible. I cut off the stocking, and the bullet was lying 
between his toes, having barely broken the skin. 

" I reckon I sha' n't help lug you any farther," said one of the men 
who had borne him. 

" Wal, if I had known that it was n't any worse than that I would n't 
have had my boot cut off," said the soldier. 

Returning to the Bernard mansion, I saw a commotion among the 
cavalry, and learned that their commander was mortally wounded. He 
had been struck by a solid shot while sitting by the tree ; and they were 
bearing him to the hospital. He was a brave and gallant officer. 

Returning to Burnside's headquarters, I learned that orders were 
being issued for Sumner to attack Lee's left on Maryee's heights, and 
crossed the bridge into the town. The troops selected to make the 
assault were clustered under the hill at the foot of the slope. It seemed 
to me that the attempt must inevitably end in failure and that it would 
result in a terrible sacrifice of life. 

Selecting a position where I could have it in full view, with many 
forebodings I awaited the movement. 

It was a solid body of men. I can only liken it to the cluster of bees 
sometimes seen on bright June days upon the outside of a hive. There 
stand the men in blue ready to obey orders, although they know many 
of their number will be killed in the onset. 

The fifteen thousand in a compact body move to the edge of the 
plateau. The hills instantly are aflame. All of Longstreet's guns are 
thundering. Shells burst in the ranks. The Confederate skirmishers, 
concealed in the houses and behind fences, fire a volley and fall back to 
the main line. 

Onward move the divisions. We who behold them from the rear, 
although we know that death stands ready to reap an abundant harvest, 
feel the blood rushing with quickened flow through our veins, when we 
see how gallantly they move forward, firing no shot in return. 

Now a sheet of flame bursts from the sunken road, and another from 
half-way up the slope, and yet another from the top of the hill. Hun- 



/ 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 211 

dreds fall ; but still on, nearer to the hill rolls the wave. Still, still it 
flows on ; but we can see that it is losing its power, and, though 
advancing, it will be broken. It begins to break. It is no longer a 
wave, but scattered remnants, thrown back like rifts of foam. A 
portion of Sturgis's division reaches the hollow in front of the hill and 
settles into it. 

The Eleventh New Hampshire, commanded by Colonel Harriman, is 
in the front line. They are new troops, and this is their first battle ; 
but they fight so gallantly that they win the admiration of their 
general. 

" See ! " said Sturgis to an old regiment which quailed before the 
fire. " See the Eleventh New Hampshire ! a new regiment, standing 
like posts driven into the ground." 

Hancock and French, unable to find any shelter, are driven back 
upon the town. The attack and the repulse have not occupied fifteen 
minutes. 

It is a sad sight, that field thickly strewn with dying and dead men. 
But in battle there is no time for the wringing of hands over disaster. 
The bloody work must go on. 

Sturgis is in the hollow, so near the hill that the rebel batteries on 
the crest cannot be depressed sufficiently to drive him out. He is 
within close musket-shot of Cobb's brigade, lying behind the stone wall 
at the base of the hill. Sturgis's men lie down, load and fire deliber- 
ately, watching their opportunity to pick off the gunners on the hill. 
In vain are all the efforts of Long-street to dislodge them. Solid shot, 
shells, canister, and shrapnel are thrown towards the hollow, but 
without avail. A solitary oak-tree near is torn and broken by the 
artillery fire, and pitted with musket-balls, and the ground is furrowed 
with the deadly missiles ; but the men keep their position through the 
weary hours. 

A second attempt is made upon the hill. Humphrey's division, com- 
posed of Tyler's and Briggs's brigade of Pennsylvanians, nearly all new 
troops, leads the advance, followed closely by Morrell's division of 
veterans. The lines move steadily over the field, under cover of the 
batteries which have been brought up and planted in the streets. 
Sturgis pours a constant stream of fire upon the sunken road. Thus 
aided, they reach the base of the hill in front of Maryee's, deliver a 
few volleys, and then with thinned ranks retire once more to the shelter 
of the ridge. 



212 THE BOYS OF '61. 

The day is waning. Franklin has failed. He telegraphs that it is 
too late to make another attack on the left. Not so does Sumner think 
on the right. He is a brave old man, fearless in battle, counting 
human life of little value if victory can be won by its sacrifice. He 
walks to and fro by the Lacy house like a chained lion. Burnside 
will not let him cross the river. Time has ploughed deep furrows on 
his face. His hair is white as the driven snow. He is grim and gruff ; 
his voice is deep, and he has rough words for those who falter in 
duty ; but he has a tender heart. He dotes upon his son, and calls him 
" Sammy," familiarly. He cannot bear to have him gone long from his 
side, and yet is ready to send him into the thickest of the fight. He 
caimot see the day lost without another struggle, and orders a third 
attack. 

Humphrey, Morell, Getty, Sykes, and Howard, or portions of their 
divisions, are brought up. The troops have been under arms from early 
daylight. They have had no food. All day they have been exposed to 
the fire of the rebel batteries, and have lost heavily. Brooks's division 
of the Sixth Corps moves up Deep Run to engage in the last attack. 
All the batteries on both sides of the river are once more brought into 
action. Getty moves up Hazel Run to take the rebels in flank, who are 
protected by the sunken road at the base of the hill. 

It is sunset. The troops move out once more upon the open plain 
and cross the field with a cheer. The ground beneath them is already 
crimson with the blood of their fallen comrades. They reach the base 
of the hill. Longstreet brings down all his reserves. The hillside, the 
plain, the crest of the ridge, the groves and thickets, the second range 
of hills beyond Maryee's, the hollow, the sunken road, are bright flashes. 
Two hundred cannon thunder fierce defiance, — forty thousand muskets 
and rifles flame ! 

The rebels are driven from the stone walls, and the sunken road, and 
the rifle-pit midway the hill. The blue wave mounts all but to the top 
of the crest. It threatens to overwhelm the Confederate batteries. 
But we who watch it behold its power decreasing. Men begin to come 
down the hill singly and in squads, and at length in masses. The third 
and last attempt has failed. The divisions return, leaving the plain and 
the hillside strewn with thousands of brave men who have fallen in the 
ineffectual struggle. 

There was no fighting on Sunday, the 14th, but General Burnside 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 



213 



ir He had eighteen of his old 
~. P TtC S C^^d g o whoever he sent *em. 




u <w vou will desist from an 
■ ! hope/' said ^f "^^ -who approves it, and I 

attack I do not know of any genera ^ 

think it will prove disastrous to _ the army ^ % doudles3 

Sunday morning dawned, with the nang 

\ 



214 THE BOYS OF '61. 

sky, its refulgent light revealing the battle-field strewn with the killed 
and wounded. Humanity demanded that the wounded should be cared 
for. The white flag was displayed and the ambulances of both armies 
gathered up the wounded. The soldiers fraternised, the men in blue 
giving those in gray rations of coffee in exchange for tobacco. Burn- 
side had lost more than twelve thousand, the Confederates between five 
and six thousand. It was plain that any attempt to force the Confeder- 
ate lines would end in failure. There was but one thing to be done — 
withdraw the army. We now know that Stonewall Jackson wanted 
Lee to allow him to make a night attack and drive the Union troops 
into the river. Lee objected, saying that in the darkness his men would 
probably become confused. Jackson said he would have a strip of white 
cotton cloth tied around their arms to distinguish them. Lee still ob- 
jected. He would stand wholly on the defensive. It seems probable 
that such an attempt on the part of Jackson would have been a failure, 
for the Union troops rested on their arms, and the double line of sen- 
tinels would have prevented a surprise. 

The wind on Tuesday night blew a gale from the southwest. Hay 
and straw were laid upon the bridges to deaden the sound of the artil- 
lery wheels. It began to rain before morning ; and the Confederates, 
little dreaming of what was taking place, remained in their quarters. 

Before daylight the whole army recrossed the river, and the bridges 
were taken up. Great were their amazement and wonder when the 
Confederates looked down from the heights and saw the Union army 
once more on the northern bank, beyond the reach of their guns. 

The defeat was disheartening to the army. But, though repulsed, the 
soldiers felt that they were not beaten ; they had failed because General 
Burnside's plans had not been heartily entered into by some of the 
officers. But the patriotic flame burned as brightly as ever, and they 
had no thought of giving up the contest. 



/ 



CHAPTER XL 

WINTER OF 1863. 

AFTER the battle of Fredericksburg, both armies prepared for the 
winter. Two great cities of log -huts sprang up in the dense 
forests on both sides of the Rappahannock, peopled by more than two 
hundred thousand men. It was surprising to see how quickly the sol- 
diers made themselves comfortable in huts chinked with mud and roofed 
with split shingles. These rude dwellings had a fireplace at one end, 
doors hung on leathern hinges, and bunks one above another, like berths 
in a steamboat. 

There the men told stories, played checkers and cards, read the news- 
papers, wrote letters to their friends far away, and kept close watch all 
the while upon the enemy. 

By mutual understanding the pickets did not fire at each other, but 
paced their beats on friendly terms, sometimes chaffing each other, often 
exchanging newspapers, not unfrequently making petty bargains — the 
Union picket giving coffee in exchange for tobacco. 

But there were dark days and dreary nights. It tried their endur- 
ance and patriotism to stand all night upon picket, with the north wind 
howling around them and the snow whirling into drifts. There were 
rainy days, and weeks of mud, when there was no drilling, and when 
there was nothing to do. Then chaplains, with books and papers under 
their arms, were welcomed everywhere. 

It was a gloomy winter, but the Sanitary and Christian Commissions 
gave their powerful aid towards maintaining the health and morals and 
spirits of the army. 

The Sanitary Commission had its origin in a convention between Rev. 
Henry W. Bellows and Dr. Elisha Harris, of New York, in April, 1861. 
Both gentlemen saw the need of some organisation to look after the sick 
and wounded, beyond the regular hospital service of the army. A large 
number of women in New York had already been talking about doing 
something for the comfort of the soldiers. After consultation a meet- 
ing was held, and the "Woman's Central Relief Association" was 

215 



216 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



formed. A committee, of whom Dr. Bellows was chairman, went to 
Washington to confer with the military authorities. They were coldly 
received. The army officers did not want any interlopers. The com- 
mittee urged the benefit of outside help, as seen in the Crimean War, 
but in vain. General Scott declined their active assistance, but was 
willing they should give advice. The committee met a more cordial 
reception from Mr. Cameron, Secretary of War. President Lincoln at 
first was inclined to accept the statements of the Medical Bureau, but, 
being a man of the people, saw that a project emanating from the people 




BUILDING CABINS FOR THE WINTER. 



was not to be summarily disposed of, and authorised the formation of an 
association for inquiry and advice. The committee soon discovered that 
the intense patriotism of the hour had caused the enlistment of many 
boys who were too young, and who would in all probability break down. 
It was soon seen that the patriotism of the women of the North must 
find some way of expressing itself, and it came in the formation of local 
organisations and contributions aggregating more than fifteen million 
dollars. Many women left their homes to become nurses in the hospitals, 
and Sisters of Charity and Sisters of Mercy. 

The Christian Commission was formed to supply the army with re- 
ligious reading, but it was seen that the physical needs of the soldiers 
were quite as imperative as the intellectual and spiritual, and the Com- 
mission soon broadened into that class of assistance, supplementing the 



WINTER OF 1863. 



217 



work of the Sanitary Commission. The Commission opened six stations 
in the army from which they dispensed supplies of books and papers, and 
food for the sick, not regularly furnished by the medical department. 
Religious meetings were held nightly, conducted by the soldiers, marked 
by deep solemnity. Veterans who had passed through all the trials and 
temptations of a soldier's life gave testimony of the peace and joy they 
had in believing in Jesus. Others asked what they should do to obtain 
the same comfort. Many who had faced death unflinchingly at Williams- 
burg, Fair Oaks, Malvern, and Antietam, who had been ever indifferent 




"THE WIND HOWLING AROUND THEM AND THE SNOW WHIRLING INTO DRIFTS. 

to the claim of religion, became like little children as they listened to 
their comrades singing, — 

" Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in tiiee." 

It was not sentimentalism. A soldier who has been through a half- 
dozen battles is the last person in the world to indulge in sentiment. 
He, above all men, understands reality. Thus, led by the sweet music and 
the fervent prayers of their comrades, they rejoiced in the hope that 
they had found forgiveness of sins through the blood of the Son of God. 

At Falmouth, an old tobacco warehouse on the bank of the river, 



218 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



within hail of the. pickets, was cleared of rubbish, the broken ceiling 
and windows covered with canvas, a rude pulpit erected, where on Sun- 
day afternoons and every evening meetings were held, a Sunday school 
was organised, also a day school. One of the soldiers established a 
school for the instruction of the children of the village. Often in the 
calm twilight of the mild winter days the picket pacing his beat upon 

the opposite bank 
stopped, and, leaning 
upon his gun, listened 
to the hymns of de- 
votion wafted on the 
evening air. 

He could have sent 
a bullet whistling 
through the building, 
but there was a mu- 
tual understanding 
among the pickets not 
to fire, and so the 
meetings were undis- 
turbed. 

Said a chaplain: 
" I am besieged by 
those who want some- 
thing good to read. 
In my rounds I am 
followed at my elbow, 
' Please, sir, can you 
spare me one ? ' They 
hail me from a dis- 
tance : ' Are you com- 
ing down this way, chaplain ? ' It is a pleasant thing to pause in these 
travels through the parish and look back upon the white waves that rise 
in the wake of one's course. Sports are hushed, swearing is charmed 
away, all are reading, — Sabbath has come." 

In some regiments, where the officers cooperated with chaplains to 
elevate the morals of men, few oaths were heard. 

One day General Howard started out with a handful of leaflets on 
swearing, with the intention of giving one to every man whom he heard 




REV. DR. HENRY W. BELLOWS. 
(PRESIDENT OF THE SANITARY COMMISSION.) 



WINTER OF 1863. 



219 



using profane language. He went from regiment to regiment and from 
brigade to brigade of his division, and returned to his tent without 
hearing an oath. 

" I have been all through my division to-day," he said, " visiting the 
hospitals, and I have n't heard a single man swear. Is n't it strange ? " 

One of the citizens of Falmouth came 
to General Howard for a guard. 

" You favoured Secession, I suppose," 
said the General. 

" I stuck for the Union till Virginia 
went out of the Union. I had to go 
with her." 

" You have a son in the rebel army." 

" Yes, sir ; but he enlisted of his own 
accord." 

" The soldiers steal your chickens, you 
say?" 

" Yes, they take everything they can 
lay their hands upon, and I want a guard 
to protect my property." 

" If you and all your neighbours had 
voted against Secession, you would not 
need a guard. No, sir, you can't have 
one. When you have given as much to 
your country as I have, 1 will give you 
one, but not till then," said the General, 
pointing to his empty sleeve. He lost 
his right arm at Williamsburg. 

The Proclamation of Emancipation 
was beginning to have its effect upon 
the coloured population of Virginia, Although there was a river to 
cross, negroes made their way into the army. From the hills behind 
Fredericksburg they could see " Mars Linkum's " white tents, the other 
side of the stream. 

General Burnside planned a movement up the river, intending to cross 
the Rappahannock at United States ford, and turn Lee's left flank. 
The army started, but suddenly rain began to fall, and before night the 
cannon carriages and wagons were hub deep in mud. Teams were 
doubled, horses and men alike sank to their knees. All day long the 




(ISTER OF MERCY. 



220 



THE BOYS OF >61. 



Zt Z m ^t F< "' tW ° daJS the "'"" St ™^> »d «>™, aware 
tothe movement must end in failure, Bumside gave the order fo, to 




t'WAiiuiiuiuiiiiikiiMyiifiiU 



— . ^1 — 



"'MARS LINKUM'8' W H I ^~^ ^ ~^ mM " lll " IIWl^ '"' , " ll '' " " ^W^ff -^^If 
1 KNTS THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREAM." 



eonLr " f0 '' eg0ne COnclusion tha * officers and soldiers would lose 
confidence m a commander who had so signally failed ThZT , 
was thorough,, ,o yal , hut regarded him J mt ^^^ 



WINTER OF 1863. 



221 



fications as a commander. The command had been thrust upon him. 
He had expressed himself as not having ability to direct a great army. 
He asked the President to accept his resignation as Major-General. Mr. 
Lincoln knew how loyal and true he was, and, instead of acceding to the 
request, made him Commander of the Ohio, and selected General Hooker 
as his successor in command of the Army of the Potomac. 

The people of the North were despondent. Now sickness set in 




"ONE OF THE CITIZENS CAME FOR A GUARD." 

among the soldiers. They were tired of war, disheartened by failures. 
When Hooker took command of the army soldiers were sent to the 
hospital at the -rate of two hundred a day. Discipline had become lax. 
Nearly three thousand officers and eighty-two thousand men were ab- 
sent. Every day colonels were besieged by the soldiers, asking if they 
could n't go home and see the old folks once more. Most of those 
absent had been granted furloughs, but had failed to return. In Wash- 
ington a company of ladies and gentlemen called upon the President 
and asked if he had any word of encouragement. He acknowledged 
that the prospect was very discouraging. 



222 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



" There are," he said, " regiments that have two-thirds of the men 
absent — a great many by desertion and a great many more on leave 
granted by company officers, which is almost as bad. There is a con- 
stant call for more troops and they are sent forward. To fill up the 
army is like undertaking to shovel fleas ; you take up a shovelful, but 
before you can dump them they are gone." 

" Is n't death the penalty of desertion ? " a lady asked. 

« Yes." 




jSmwO ^ * * i 



[AY I HAVE A FURLOUGH AND GO HOME TO SEE THE FOLKS?" 



" Why not enforce it ? " 

" Oh, no, you can't do that ! you can't shoot men by the hundreds for 
deserting. The country would not stand it, and ought not to stand it. 
It would be barbarous. We must change the condition of things in 
some way." 

General Hooker saw that the first thing to be done was to eradicate 
homesickness, which had become a disease. Although so many were 
absent, the first order issued by him provided that one brigade com- 
mander, one field officer, two line officers of regiments, and two men out 



WINTER OF 1863. 



223 



of every hundred might be absent at one time, not exceeding ten days 
to the near States and fifteen days to the States farther away. 

" You have ruined the army. They will go from Dan to Beersheba, 
you never will get them back again," was the despatch from President 
Lincoln. 

" Let me try it for three weeks," said Hooker, in reply. 




"CLASPED IN LOVING ARMS." 

The President consented. The departing soldiers were upon their 
honour. If they did not return at the appointed time their comrades 
could not have a furlough. The result manifested the wisdom of Gen- 
eral Hooker. It was an affecting and exhilarating scene in the ranks 
when the lots were cast — the lightening of the faces of those departing. 
They were to see father and mother, wife and children, to be clasped in 
loving arms. Those not included in the lot knew that two weeks later 
their turn might come. The effect upon the army was almost instan- 



224 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



taneous. It was the rekindling of patriotic fervour. Under daily drill 
and strict discipline there was a marked change for the better. 

We are not to think that the army remained perfectly quiet through 




RETURN OF A REUONNOITERIXG PARTY. 

these months; on the contrary reconnoitering parties -marched to upper 
Rappahannock and sometimes crossed at one of the fords to feel of the 
enemy, for Hooker's scouts reported that General Lee evidently was get- 
ting ready to invade the North. 



CHAPTER XII. 

TIIE ATLANTIC COAST. 

THE encounter between the Merrimack and the Monitor had set 
the world agog on the matter of armoured vessels. A fleet of 
ironclads had been prepared, with the special object in view of recaptur- 
ing Fort Sumter. It was an event looked forward to with intense inter- 
est, not only in the North, but throughout the civilised world. Having 
a desire to witness that attack, I proceeded South, leaving New York on 
the 7th of February, 1863, on board the steamer Augusta Dinsmore, 
belonging to Adams's Express. Captain Crowell, her commander, was a 
sharp-eyed Connecticut Yankee, who kept the lead constantly going as 
we ran down the coast, and who was as well acquainted with all the 
soundings as the skipper of Nantucket, who detected the soil of Marin 
Hackett's garden by smell and taste, although Nantucket had sunk. 

The vessel was to call at Newberne, North Carolina, in possession of 
the Union forces. Sixty hours from New York brought the steamer to 
Point Lookout. Just where the Point might be the captain did not 
know, the coast being shut from view by a fog -bank. The whistle 
screeched, and the twelve-pound howitzer banged its loudest thunder for 
a pilot. We could hear the surf tumbling on the beach. The white-winged 
gulls circled around us and then flew landward as if to tantalise us by 
their freedom. Hours passed but no pilot appeared, and the Dinsmore 
became a cradle of the deep, rolling till the taff rail touched the waves. 
Suddenly the fog-curtain was drawn aside and a pilot in a cockle-shell boat 
came alongside, climbed on deck, took the helm, and we glided into the 
harbour. Before the anchor dropped a score of officers were climbing the 
sides of the steamer to welcome expected friends. A train was in waiting 
to take the fifty thousand letters in Uncle Sam's mail-bags to his soldiers 
holding Newberne and the surrounding country. Few regiments from 
Massachusetts were in North Carolina. 

We found the town a straggling village with broad, well shaded 
streets, with here and there a substantial house, but most of the houses 
were rudely built, unpainted structures, with rickety sheds and out- 

225 






226 THE BOYS OF '61. 

houses leaning earthwards, giving to the town a general air of dilapida- 
tion. Two of the most prominent clergymen of Boston were serving as 
chaplains — Rev. Mr. Manning, pastor of the Old South, and Rev. A. L. 
Stowe, of Park Street Church. A third was Rev. Mr. James, editor of 
the Cotigregationalist. A large number of the soldiers were from their 
congregations. 

The steamer R. 8. Spaulding came into Beaufort Harbour, having 
Major-General Foster and staff as passengers. He was on his way from 
Port Royal to Washington to see whether he or General Hunter had 
jurisdiction in South Carolina. He had been sent with a portion of 
his troops to Port Royal in a department where General Hunter was 
in command, but being senior in rank thought himself entitled to the 
position — a claim which Hunter would not acknowledge ; hence the 
voyage to Washington, at Government expense, to find out who was who. 

From Beaufort the Dinsmore steamed on to Port Royal, making it 
through a heavy sea. 

The harbour was crowded with shipping. General Foster's force from 
North Carolina had just arrived, to participate in a land movement. 
The officers and soldiers at Port Royal, weary with doing nothing, had 
fitted up a theatre. The building was used for church services on Sun- 
day. Attending the morning service the day after our arrival, I found 
an audience of about one hundred persons, among them General Hunter 
and staff. The clergyman, an Episcopalian, in a rusty black gown, stood 
upon the stage. A soldier played a melodeon and conducted the singing. 
In the afternoon there was a business meeting in the African Baptist 
church, which I also attended. Rev. Abraham Murchison, a tall copper- 
hued negro, was pastor, and presided over the deliberations. He had 
been a slave in Savannah, but made his way to our lines, was a store- 
keeper or huckster on week-days, and preached on Sunday. The build- 
ing had been erected by order of General Mitchell, for an African church. 
There were two rows of benches, a plain pine pulpit, a ventilated ceiling, 
from which three or four glass lamps were suspended. The congrega- 
tion were singing when we entered, — 

" Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood 
Stand dressed in living green, 
So to the Jews fair Canaan stood, 
While Jordan rolled between." 

The leader was a round-headed, compact, energetic negro, twenty-five 



THE ATLANTIC COAST. 



229 



years of age, whose zeal was bounded only by the capacity of his lungs. 
It was the well-known tune " Jordan," sung by millions in times past 
and present. The women occupied one side of the house, the men sit- 
ting opposite. It was a dusky view, looking down the aisle from my 
seat at the right of the pulpit. They were countenances not types of 
beauty, not attractive intellectually. But there was perfect decorum and 
solemnity. All heads were bowed when the preacher prayed. It was a 
prayer full of supplications and 
thanksgiving, expressed in fitting 
words. 

The church had a case of dis- 
cipline. Their sexton had been 
remiss in lighting the lamps, and 
was arraigned for trial. The 
pastor called the sexton to the 
front, and thus indicted him : 

" John, my son, you are ar- 
raigned for not doing as you 
have agreed, and covenanted to 
do. We pay you one hundred 
and twenty dollars a year for 
lighting these yere beautiful 
lamps which the church has 
so generously provided, and. sir, 
you have been remiss in your 
duty. On Thursday night, when 
we were assembled for holy 

prayer, we were in darkness. You did wrong. You broke your obliga- 
tions. You must be punished. What say you ? Brethren, we will hear 
what he has to say." 

" I lighted the lamps, sah, but they went out ; de oil was bad, I 
reckon," said the sexton. 

The pastor called upon one of the deacons to take the chair. He was 
of middle age, black as anthracite coal, bald-headed, and was dressed in 
trousers and coat made of old sail-cloth. By his side sat his colleague, 
wearing a United States soldier's blue overcoat. The preacher, taking 
his stand in the aisle, laid aside his clerical authority, and became one of 
the brethren. " Brother cheerman," he said, " our brother am pre- 
sumpfots. He say he light de lamps and dey go out. How does he 




MAJOR - GENERAL DAVID HUNTER. 



230 THE BOYS OF '61. 

know dey go out ? He ought to stay and see dey don't go out. He am 
presumptus and should be punished. I move, sir, dat our brother be 
set aside from commin' to de Lord's table till he make satisfaction." 

A brother seconded the motion, and the question was put by the 
deacon. Two or three voted affirmatively, but nearly all negatively. 
The question was not understood. The preacher explained : " You is 
discomposed in your minds. You do not understand de question. Can 
any of you tell me how you voted ? " 

The question was put a second time, and the offending member was 
unanimously debarred the privileges of the church. 

After the discipline a candidate for admission was presented, a stout 
young man, named Jonas. 

" Well, my son, where are you from ? " said the pastor. 

" From Charleston, sir." 

" Was you a member of the church there, my son ? " 

" Yes, sir, I was a member of the church." 

" Does any one here know anything about Jonas ? " 

A half-dozen responded " Yes," all agreeing that his deportment was 
correct. 

"Did you bring your c'tificate with you ?" 

" No, sir ; I came away in a hurry, and had n't any time to get one." 

" Yes, my son ; we understand that you were obliged to leave in a 
hurry or not at all. But what made you become a Christian ? " 

" Because I felt I was a sinner." 

" Did you pray, my son ? " 

" Yes, sir ; and I feel that through the mercy of Jesus Christ my sins 
are pardoned." 

It was a simple narrative, and expressed with evident consciousness of 
the solemnity of the declaration. 

In the evening Rev. Mr. Murchison preached from the text, " And 
they shall call upon the rocks and mountains to fall upon them," etc. 

It was a crude, disjointed discourse, having very little logic, a great 
many large words, some of them ludicrously misapplied, yet contained 
striking thoughts, and appropriate similes. This was a congregation 
standing on the lowest step of civilisation. Minister and people were 
but a twelvemonth out of bondage. All behind them was barbarism. 
Before them was a future, unrevealed, but infinitely better than what 
their past had been. Their meeting was orderly, and I have seen grave 
legislative bodies in quite as much of a muddle over a simple question 



THE ATLANTIC COAST. 231 

as that congregation of black men emerging from their long night of 
darkness. 

On the following Sunday I was present at a service on Ladies' Island. 
The owner of the plantation where the meeting was held erected his 
house in full view of Beaufort, and near the bank of the stream where 
the tide ebbs and flows upon the sandy beach. It was standing on 
posts, to give free circulation to the air underneath. In hot summer 
days the shade beneath the house was the resort of all the poultry of 
the premises. Thousands of hard-working New England mechanics 
live in better houses, yet from Beaufort the place made an imposing 
show, surrounded by orange and magnolia trees. The sandy acres of 
the plantation stretched towards St. Helena. A short distance from the 
planter's house were the weather-beaten cabins of the negroes, mere 
hovels, without window-panes, with mud chimneys, — the homes of 
generations who had gone from the darkness and hopelessness of a 
wearying life to the rest and quiet of the grave. 

On that morning when Admiral Dupont shelled the Confederates out 
of the forts at Hilton Head and Bay Point, the owner of these acres 
made a hasty exit from his house. He sent his overseer to the cabins 
to hurry up the negroes, but to his surprise not a negro was to be found. 
The coloured people had heard the thundering down the bay. They knew 
its meaning. It set their hearts beating as never before. It was the 
sweetest music they had ever heard. A horseman came riding furiously 
up to the house, with terror in his countenance. The master hastened 
out to know how the battle was going. 

" The Yankees have taken the forts ! " said the messenger. The 
master became pale. 

" You had better get your negroes together, and be ready for a 
move," said the messenger. 

Sharp ears had heard all this, — the ears of Sam, a coloured man, 
who, seeing the herald arrive in hot haste, had the curiosity to hear 
what he had to say, then bounded like a deer to the cabins, running 
from door to door, whispering to the inmates, " To the woods ! to the 
woods ! De Yankees hab taken de forts, — massa is going to de 
mainland, and is going to take us wid him." 

The cabins were deserted in an instant ; and five minutes later, when 
the overseer came round to gather his drove of human cattle, he found 
empty hovels. The planter and his overseer were obliged to do their 
own hasty packing up. 



232 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



• +v,o >,nnrk of a warm - hearted Christian 
The plantation was in the hands ot a war 

gentleman from Massachusetts, Mr. Norton. The people 
gathered for worship in the large parlonr of the house. 




THE CABINS WERE DESERTED IN AN INSTANT. 



The room was eighteen or twenty feet square, and had a w^e—ed 
fireplace in whieh a cheerful fire of pitch knots was blazing. There was 
a sete a mahogany sideboard, where the former owner was accustom d 
It^i hi. win s and liquors. Seats and chairs were brought m. The 



THE ATLANTIC COAST. 



233 



big dinner-bell was rung, and the people, thirty or forty in number, 
came in, men, women, and children. Some of the women brought their 
infants. Uncle Jim, the patriarch of the plantation, was too feeble to 
attend. The superintendent, Mr. Norton, comforted his heart by read- 
ing to him a chapter in the Bible and offering prayers in the miserable 
cabin, where the old man was lying on a pile of rags. Uncle Jim was 
a sincere Christian. The word of God was sweet to him. His heart 




<^10. 



UNCLE JIM. 



overflowed with thanks and praise, for the display of God's great 
goodness to him and his people. 

A hymn was lined off by Mr. Norton, after the fashion of our 
fathers. William, a stout, middle-aged man, struck into St. Martin's, 
and the congregation joined, not reading the music exactly as good old 
Tansur composed it, for there were crooks, turns, slurs, and appoggia- 
turas, not to be found in any printed copy. It was sung harshly, 
nasally, and dragged out in long, slow notes. 

A pure-blooded negro, Sancho, offered prayer. He had seen great 



234 THE BOYS OF '61. 

hardship in life and had suffered more than his namesake, the squire, 
who was once unceremoniously tossed in a blanket. His prayer was the 
free utterance of a warm heart. He improved the opportunity to 
mingle an exhortation with his supplication. He thus addressed the 
unconverted : 

" Oh, my poor, impenitent fellow sinner, what you think you are 
doing ? Where you think you are going ? Death will ride up soon in 
a big, black carriage and take you wid him down to de regions of deep 
darkness. Why don't you repent now, and den he will carry you up 
into de light of paradise ! " 

Looking forward to the hour of the Christian's release from the 
bondage of this life, he said, in conclusion : " And now, good Lord, 
when we have done chaw all de hard bones and swallowed all de bitter 
pills, we trust de good Lord will take us to Himself." 

After an address from the superintendent, Sancho rose. 

" My belobed friends," said he, " 1 neber 'spected to see such a day 
as dis year. For twenty years, I hired my time of old massa, I was 
'bleeged to pay him twelve dollars a month in advance, and if I didn't 
hab de money ready, he wollopped me. But I 's a free man now. De 
good Lord hab done it all. I can't read. It is de great desire ob my 
heart to learn to read, so dat I can read de Bible all my own self ; but 
I 's too old to learn. But I rejoice dat my chillen can hab de oppor- 
tunity to study de precious word. De Lord is doin' great tings for us in 
dese yere days. Ole massa was a purty good massa, and I prays de 
Lord to make him lay down his weapons ob rebellion and become a good 
Union man and a disciple ob de Lord Jesus, for Jesus tells us dat we 
must lub our enemies." 

After the exercises of the religious meeting were concluded, the 
chairs were set aside, and they began a " praise meeting," or singing 
meeting. Most of their music was plaintive. The piece frequently 
commences with a recitative by one voice, and at the end of the first 
line the chorus joins. The words are often improvised to suit the 
occasion. 

A favorite song was "Roll, Jordan, roll," in which the progression of 
the melody is very descriptive of the rolling of waves upon the beach. 
There are many variations of the melody, but that here given is as I 
heard it sung by the negroes of Blythewood. 

The verses vary only in recitation. If Mr. Jones was present he 
would hear, " Mr. Jones is sitting on the tree of life." There was no 



THE ATLANTIC COAST. 



235 



pause, and before the last roll was ended the one giving the recitative 
placed another personage on the tree, and thus Jordan continued to roll 
along. 

As the song goes on the enthusiasm rises. They sing louder and 
stronger. The recitative is given with increased vigour, and the chorus 



Roil, Jordan. 




M^-J-J -rH 1 1— D-"zrr- — ] |-r-| -i 



4 



Lit-tle chil-dren sit-ting on the tree of life To hear the Jor-dan roll ; O 

-0 

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-0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -0- -&- 



*— pif-Jp F W w r f g P=H 



i=p=i= 



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I i I 

roll, Jordan roll, Jor-dan roll, Jor-dan roll, 



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We march the an - gel march, O 



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"p p y - -f=p — p 

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march, O my soul is ris - ing heavenward, To hear the Jordan roll. 



P_P2 F-^-P— P*---P— # 



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ill 



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swells with increasing volume. They beat time, at first, with their hands, 
then their feet. They rise from their seats. William begins to shuffle his 
feet. Anna, a short, thick-set woman, wearing a checkered dress and 
an apron, which once was a window-curtain, claps her hands, makes a 
short, quick jerk of her body, stamps her feet on the unaccented part of 
the measure, keeping exact syncopation. Catherine and Sancho catch 
the inspiration. They go round in a circle, shuffling, jerking, shouting 
louder and louder, while those outside of the circle respond with increas- 
ing vigour, all stamping, clapping their hands, and rolling out the chorus. 



236 THE BOYS OF '61. 

William seems to be in a trance, his eyes are fixed, yet he goes on with 
a double-shuffle, till the perspiration stands in beads upon his face. 
Every joint seems hung on wires. Feet, legs, arms, head, body, and 
hands swing and jump like a child's dancing Dandy Jim. Sancho enters 
into it with all his heart, soul, mind, and might, clapping his hands, 
rolling his eyes, looking upward in ecstacy and outward upon the crowd, 
as if he were their spiritual father and guardian. 

Thus it went on till nature was exhausted. When the meeting broke 
up, they all came round in procession, shaking hands with the superin- 
tendent and the strangers present, and singing a parting song, — 

" There 's a meeting here to-night ! " 

The superintendent informed me that the children who attended 
school could not be coaxed to take part in those praise meetings. They 
had learned to sing Sunday school songs, and evidently looked upon the 
plantation songs of their fathers and mothers as belonging to their 
bondage and not worthy to be sung now that they were free. 

A short distance from Hilton Head was the town of Mitchellville, laid 
out by the lamented astronomer, General Mitchell, who fell a victim to 
the yellow fever in the summer of 1862. The town was on a broad 
sandy plain, bordered by groves and thickets of live-oak, palmetto, and 
the coast pine. 

At that time there were about seventy houses, — or cabins rather, — 
of the rudest description, built of logs, chinked with clay brought up 
from the beach, roofs of long split shingles, board floors, windows with 
shutters, — plain board blinds, without sash or glass. Each house had 
a quarter of an acre of land attached. There was no paint or lime, not 
even whitewash, about them. It was just such a place as might be 
expected in a new country, where there were no saw-mills or brick-kilns, 
— a step in advance of a hole in the ground or a bark wigwam. It was 
the beginning of the experiment of civilisation on the part of a semi- 
barbarous people just released from abject bondage, and far from being 
free men. 

I looked into the first cabin, and seeing an old man sitting before th 
fire, greeted him with "How do you do, uncle?" the sobriquet of all 
middle-aged negro men. 

" 'Pears how I 'm rather poorly, — I 's got de chills, boss." 

He had been a slave in Florida, but made his escape from his 
master's plantation fifty miles inland, reached Fernandina, and entered 



ll 



THE ATLANTIC COAST. 237 

the lines of the Union army. He was dressed in trousers made of old 
sail-cloth, and the tattered cast-off blouse of a Union soldier. The room 
was about twelve feet square. I could see through the chinking in a 
hundred places. At the coping of the roof, where it should have joined 
the wall, there was a wide opening all around, which allowed all the 
warmth to escape. The furniture consisted of three tables, four chairs, 
a mahogany wash-stand, all of which once stood in the mansion of some 
island planter. Upon the hearth was a Dutch oven, pots, kettles, 
baskets, and bags, and a pile of rags, old blankets which the soldiers 
had thrown aside. It required but a few words to thaw out Uncle 
Jacob, who at once commenced fumbling in his pockets, producing, 
after a studious search, a brown paper, carefully folded, enclosing the 
name of a gentleman in New York who had taken home Uncle Jacob's 
nephew. He wanted me to read it to him, — the name, the street, the 
number, — that he might learn it by heart. 

" He is learning to write, boss, and I shall have a letter from him by 
and by," said the old man, in glee. He handed me three letters, all 
from men who once were slaves, not written by them individually, but 
by amanuenses. One was a sailor on the gunboat Ottawa, off Charles- 
ton ; one was in New York City, and the third in Ohio. 

" Please, boss, I should like to hab you read 'em," he said. 

It was a pleasure to gratify the kind-hearted man, who listened with 
satisfaction beaming from every line of his countenance. 

Uncle Jacob had been five months in the employ of the United States, 
unloading vessels at Hilton Head, and had received only his rations and 
a little clothing. 

" Well, Uncle Jacob, which would you rather be, a freeman or a 
slave ? " I asked. 

" Oh, Lor' bless you, boss, I would n't like to be a slave again." 

" Do you think you can take care of yourself ? " 

" Jes let Gubberment pay me, boss, and see if I can't." 

It was spoken with great earnestness. 

In the next cabin I found Peter, who had taken the name of Brown, 
that of his former master. Slavery gave its victims but one name. 
General Mitchell said that they were entitled to another name, and he 
ordered that they should take that of their former masters ; hence 
there are Peter Beauregards, James Trenholms, Susan Rhetts, Julia 
Barnwells, on the plantations of the Sea Islands. 

" Mr. Brown, did you ever hear about the Abolitionists ? " I asked. 



238 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



" Yes, sir, tank you, I 's he'd of 'em." 

" What did you hear about them ? " 

" Oh, dey is a werry bad sort of people, sir. Old massa said dat if 
dey could get a chance dey would take all our pickaninnies and smash 
der brains out agin de trees ! " 

" Did you ever see an Abolitionist?" 

" No, sir, tank you, nebber saw one." 

" Well, Mr. Brown, 1 am one." 




" FESTOONS AND TRAILS OF GRAY iMOSS SWAYED IN THE GENTLE BREEZE." 



Mr. Brown started involuntarily. He looked me all over from head 
to feet, giving a keen search. " 'Pears how I should n't tink you could 
hab de heart to do it, sir." 

" Do I look as though I should like to kill your little ones ? " 

" No, sir, I don't tink you would." 

I told him who the Abolitionists were, and what they wished to do, — 
that they were friends of the slaves, and always had been. He grasped 
my hand, and said, " God bless you, sir." And then burst into hearty 
laughter. 



THE ATLANTIC COAST. 239 

Having been informed that it would be impossible to obtain a fowl of 
the negroes at that season of the year, I made the attempt ; but though 
I offered treble the value, not one would part with a hen. They were 
looking forward to broods of chickens which would bring them in 
" heaps " of money in the fall of the year. 

While waiting for the ironclads, I made frequent visits to the planta- 
tions on the islands, riding through forests of live-oak and gum-trees, 
whose trunks were wreathed with climbing vines. From the wide- 
spreading branches festoons and trails of gray moss swayed in the 
gentle breeze. 

The " freedmen," as they were called at the time, had little to do. It 
was not possible for the military authorities to give them employment, 
and they had abundant time to sing and dance. The Government gave 
them rations, so they had no fear of starvation. It was a happy-go-lucky 
life, with no overseer following them with a whip to the cane-brake or 
rice field. 

Entering the headquarters of the commanding officer one day, I saw 
a thin, spare coloured woman sitting before the fire. She nodded and 
smiled, ran her eyes over me, as if to take in every feature or peculiarity 
of my person and dress, then gazed into the fire and seemed absorbed in 
her own thoughts. A friend said, " That is our Sojourner Truth." 

The original " Sojourner Truth " was a negro woman of remarkable 
character, who piloted many slaves from bondage to freedom, during 
the years of Antislavery agitation. The woman before me had brought 
several companies of negroes from the mainland and had given much 
information in regard to the movements and positions occupied by the 
Confederates. Many negroes made their way singly or in companies to 
the Union lines through her accounts of the condition of the freedmen 
at Port Royal, — how they were kindly cared for. She had penetrated 
swamps, endured hardships, eluded rebel pickets, visiting the planta- 
tions at midnight, and conversing with the slaves. 

" I can travel all through the South, I reckon," she said. 

' ; Are you not afraid that the rebels will catch you ? " 

" Well, honey, I reckon they could n't keep me," she said, with a 
smile. 

She had exhibited such remarkable shrewdness and finesse in her 
exploits, and had rendered such valuable services to the department, 
that she was held in high esteem. 

The original " Sojourner Truth " lives in modern art, the sculptor, W. 



240 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



W. Stacy, having taken her for his ideal of the Libyan Sibyl, exhibited 
at the London World's Fair 1862. She also lives in literature — Mrs. 
Harriet Beecher Stowe having portrayed her character and given many 




"NO MORE UNREQUITED WORK IN THE CANK BRAKE AND COTTON FIELD." 

incidents of her life, to be found in articles published in the Atlantic 
Monthly. 

Upon the plantations of W. Helen were men and women of the 



THE ATLANTIC COAST. 



241 



despised race, who were endowed with rare abilities. The men were 

ready to enlist and fight for the man who had given them their freedom. 

The enlistment of negro troops began at Port Royal in the fall of 




SLAVES GOING TO JOIN THE UNION ARMY. 



1862, and by midwinter the First South Carolina, commanded by Col- 
onel Higginson, had its ranks nearly full. There was strong prejudice 
in the army against employing negroes. The New Jersey troops in the 



242 THE BOYS OF '61. 

department of the South were bitterly hostile. Colonel Stevenson, of 
Massachusetts, a gallant officer, having imprudently given utterance to 
his feelings upon the subject, was arrested by General Hunter, which 
caused a great deal of excitement in the army, and which attracted the 
attention of the country to the whole subject. 

The day after the arrest of Colonel Stevenson, a scene illustrating the 
sentiments of the hour occurred in the cabin of the steamer Wyoming, 
plying between Beaufort and Hilton Head. The party consisted of 
several ladies, one or two chaplains, fifteen or twenty officers, four 
newspaper correspondents, and several civilians. 

A young captain in the Tenth New Jersey opened the conversation. 

" I wish," said he, " that every negro was compelled to take off his hat 
to a white man. I consider him an inferior being." 

" You differ from General Washington, who took off his hat and 
saluted a negro," I replied. 

" General Washington could afford to do it," said the captain, a little 
staggered. 

" Are we to understand that in this age a captain in the service of 
the United States cannot afford to equal a negro in politeness ? " 

" Do you want to be buried with a nigger, and have your bones touch 
his in the grave ? " 

" As to that I have no feeling whatever. I do not suppose that it will 
make much difference to the bones of either party." 

" Well, when I die I want twenty niggers packed all around me," 
shouted the captain, excitedly, turning to the crowd to see the effect of 
his sarcasm. 

" I presume, sir, you can be accommodated, if you can get the consent 
of the twenty negroes." 

The captain saw that he was losing his argument by losing his 
temper, and in calmer tones said : " I want to see the negro kept in his 
proper place. I am perfectly willing he should use the shovel, but it 
is an outrage upon the white man, — an insult, to have him carry a 
musket." 

" I would just as soon see a negro shot as to get shot myself. I am 
perfectly willing that all the negroes should help put down the Rebel- 
lion," said the correspondent. 

" I am not willing to have them act as soldiers. Put them in the 
ditches, where they belong. They are an inferior race." 

One of my fellow correspondents broke in. " Who are you, sir ? " 



THE ATLANTIC COAST. 243 

said he ; " you who condemn the Government ? You forget that you as a 
soldier have nothing to say about the orders of the President or the laws 
of Congress. You say that the negro is an inferior being ; what do you 
say of Frederick Douglass, who has raised himself from slavery to a 
high position ? Your straps were placed on your shoulders, not because 
you had done anything to merit them, but because you had friends to 
intercede for you, — using their political influence, — or because you had 
money, and could purchase your commission. You hate the negro, and 
you want to keep him in slavery, and you allow your prejudice to carry 
you to the verge of disloyalty to the Government which pays you for 
unworthily wearing your shoulder-straps." 

The captain and the entire company listened in silence while another 
correspondent took up the question. 

" Gentlemen, you denounce the negro ; you say that he is an inferior 
being. You forget that we white men claim to stand on the highest 
plane of civilisation, — that we are of a race which for a thousand years 
has been in the front rank, — that the negro has been bruised, crushed, 
trodden down, — denied all knowledge, all right, everything ; that we 
have compelled him to labour for us, and we have eaten the fruit of his 
labours. Can we expect him to be our equal in acquisition of knowl- 
edge ? Where is your sense of fair play ? Are you afraid that the 
negro will push you from your position ? Are you afraid that if you 
allow him to aid in putting down the Rebellion, that he too will become 
a free man, and have aspirations like your own, and in time express 
toward you the same chivalric sentiments which you express toward 
him ? How much do you love your country if you thus make conditions 
of loyalty ? " 

The captain made no reply. The whole company was silent. There 
were smiles from the ladies. The captain went out upon the deck, 
evidently regretting that the conversation had fallen upon so exciting a 
topic. 

The First South Carolina Regiment of loyal blacks was in camp on 
Smith's plantation, four miles out from Beaufort. We rode over a sandy 
plain, through old cotton fields, pine-barrens, and jungles, past a dozen 
negro huts, where the long tresses of moss waved mournfully in the 
breeze. The men had gathered a boat-load of oysters, and were having 
a feast, — old and young, gray-headed men, and curly-haired children, 
were huddled around the pans, steaming and smoking over the pitch- 
knot fires. 



244 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



Smith's plantation is historic ground, — the place where the Hugue- 
nots built a fort long before the Mayflower cast anchor in Cape Cod har- 
bour. The plantation was well known to the coloured people before the 
war as a place to be dreaded, — a place for hard work, unmerciful whip- 
pings, with very little to eat. The house and the negro quarters were in 
a delightful grove of live-oaks, whose evergreen leaves, wide-spreading 
branches, thick foliage, and gnarled trunks, gave cooling shade. In 




"NEAR BY WAS THE CHAPEL WITH A BELFRY AND BELL. 



front of the house, leading down to the fort, was a magnolia walk. Be- 
hind the house, in a circular basin, — a depression often found on sandy 
plains, — was the garden, surrounded by a thick-set, fantastic palmetto 
hedge. The great oak between the house and the garden was the 



whipping-post. One of the branches was smooth, as if a swing had 
been slung there, and the bark had been worn by the rope swaying 
the merry chattering and light-hearted laughter of children. Not th 



£ 



THE ATLANTIC COAST. 



245 



however. There the offender of plantation law, — of a master's caprice, 
— - had paid the penalty of disobedience ; there men, women, and chil- 
dren, suspended by the thumb, stripped of their clothing, received the 




MOORED NEAR BY. 



lash, their moans, groans, cries, and prayers falling unheeding on over- 
w eer, master, and mistress, 
k The plantation jail was in the loft of the granary, beneath a pitch- 



246 THE BOYS OF '61. 

pine roof, which, under the heat of a midsummer sun, was like an oven. 
There was but one little window in the gable for the admission of air. 
There were iron rings and bolts in the beams and rafters, to which the 
slaves were chained. 

The owner of the plantation was not unmindful of the religious wants 
of his fellow Christians. Near by was the chapel with a belfry and bell, 
which on week-days — at daylight — summoned the slaves to their unre- 
quited tasks in the cotton fields. On Sunday its silver tones called 
them to come and worship Almighty God, who, according to eminent 
doctors of divinity, had ordained slavery as a divine missionary institu- 
tion for the welfare of the human race. The law forbade their master 
or any one else to teach the alphabet so that they might read the Bible. 
In this rude building, with its oaken benches, one of their own number, as 
unlearned as themselves, might preach to them, while their masters and 
mistresses worshipped at St. Michael's or St. Phillip's in Charleston. 
On the morrow preacher and congregation might be sold on the auction 
block, or their backs cut to pieces by the overseer's lash. It was upon 
one of these plantations that a minister of the gospel from Boston, be- 
neath the wide-spreading oak, and the fragrant magnolias, a short time 
before the secession of the Southern States, wrote a book setting forth 
the blessings of slavery — a volume which reads strangely today. 

Time had brought great changes. On this same plantation the First 
South Carolina Regiment of coloured troops was encamped. They had 
already been under fire upon the steamer Darlington moored near by. I 
breakfasted with the captain who showed me the bullet marks on the 
boat, made during a reconnoisance up one of the estuaries. 

" How did the negroes stand fire ? " I asked. 

" They fought resolutely," he replied. 

The boat was at anchor in a cove near the shore. The path leading 
down to the water was beneath drooping festoons of moss trailing from 
the branches of the overarching trees. It was a place where one could 
sit and give himself to meditations upon the mutations which time had 
brought since that April morning when the flag was humiliated at 
Sumter. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE IRONCLADS IN ACTION. 

AFTER vexatious delays, the iron-clad fleet was ready for action. It 
was deemed desirable to test their armour, before attacking Sum- 
ter, by making a reconnoissance of Fort McAllister, on the Ogeechee. 

It was late on the afternoon of March 1st, when the steamer George 
Washington left Hilton Head for a trip to Ossabow Sound. The Passaic, 
Montauk, Nahant, and Patapseo, ironclads of the Monitor pattern, were 
already there. The Washington took the "inside" route up Wilmington 
River and through the Rumley marshes. The gunboat Marblehead was 
guarding the entrance to the river. It was past simset, and the tide 
was ebbing. 

" You had better lie here till morning ; there are indications that we 
shall hear from those fellows up there," said the commander of the 
Marblehead. Looking westward into the golden light of the departing 
day, we could see the spires of Savannah, also nearer the Confederate 
gunboats moving up and down the river. 

The anchor dropped, the chain rattled through the hawsehole, the 
lights were extinguished, the guns put in trim ; the lookout took his 
position ; the sentinels passed to and fro, peering into the darkness ; a 
buoy was attached to the cable, that it might be slipped in an instant ; 
all ears listened to catch the sound of muffled oars or plashing paddle- 
wheels, but there was no sound save the piping of the curlew in the 
marshes and the surging of the tide along the reedy shores. At three 
o'clock in the morning we were away from our anchorage, steaming up 
Wilmington River. The moonlight lay in a golden flood along the 
waters, revealing the distant outline of the Confederate earthworks. 
How charming the trip! exhilarating, and sufficiently exciting, under 
the expectation of falling in with a hostile gunboat, to bring every nerve 
into action. It was sunrise when the Washington emerged from the 
marshes and came to anchor among the ironclads. The Montauk had 
just completed a glorious work, — the destruction of the Nashville. We 

247 



248 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



had heard the roar of her guns, and the quick, ineffectual firing from 
Fort McAllister. 

The Nashville, which began her piratical depredations by burning the 



,.„:'./: '• 



\,:{ f { S, % 






r ffA 




ir 



UP WILMINGTON RIVER. 



ship Harvey Birch, ran into Savannah, where she had been cooped up 
several months. She had been waiting many weeks for an opportunity 
to run out to sea again. One Saturday morning, the last day of Febru- 
ary, a dense fog hung over the marshes, the islands, and the inlets of 



THE IRONCLADS IN ACTION. 249 

Ossabow. The Montauk lay at the junction of the Great and Little 
Ogeechee Rivers, when the fog lifted and the Nashville was discovered 
aground above the fort. 

The eyes of Captain Worden sparkled as he gave the command to 
prepare for action. He had not forgotten his encounter with the 
Merrimack. The Montauk moved up-stream, came within range of the 
fort, which opened from all its guns, but to which Captain Worden gave 
no heed. Taking a position about three-quarters of a mile from the 
Nashville and half a mile from the fort, he opened with both guns upon 
the grounded steamer, to which the Nashville replied with her hundred- 
pounder. The third shell from the Montauk exploded inside the steamer, 
setting her cotton on fire. The flames spread with great rapidity. Her 
crew fled to the marshes, the magazine soon exploded, and the career of 
the Nashville was ended. 

At high tide on the morning of the 3d of March the Passaic, Pa- 
tapseo, and Nahant moved up the Ogeechee, and opened fire on the fort, 
to test the working of their machinery. The fire was furious from the 
fort, but slow and deliberate from the ironclads. Several mortar- 
schooners threw shells in the direction of the fort. The monitors were 
obliged to retire with the tide. They were struck repeatedly, but the 
balls fell harmlessly against the" iron plating. It was evident that at 
the distance of three-fourths of a mile, or a half-mile even, the ironclads 
could withstand the heaviest guns, while on the other hand the fire of 
the monitors must necessarily be very slow. The attack was made, not 
with the expectation of reducing the fort, but to test the monitors 
before the grand attack upon Fort Sumter. 

The first attack on Sumter occurred on the 7th of April. The fort 
stood out in bold relief, the bright noon -sun shining full upon its 
southern face, fronting the shallow water towards Morris Island, leaving 
in shadow its eastern wall toward Moultrie. The air was clear, and we 
who were on shipboard just beyond the reach of the rebel guns, looking 
inland with our glasses, could see the city, the spires, the roofs of the 
houses thronged with people. A three-masted ship lay at the wharves, 
the rebel rams were fired up, sailboats were scudding across the 
harbour, running down toward Sumter, looking seaward, then hastening 
back again like little children, expectant and restless on great occasions, 
eager for something to be done. 

The attacking fleet was in the main ship-channel, — -eight little black 
specks but little larger than the buoys which tossed beside them, and 



250 THE BOYS OF '01. 

one black oblong block, the New Ironsides, the flag-ship of the fleet. It 
was difficult to comprehend that beneath the surface of the sea there 
were men as secure from the waves as bugs in a bottle. It was as 
strange and romantic as the stories which charmed the Arabian chief- 
tains in the days of Haroun Al Raschid. 

The ironclads were about one-third of a mile apart, in the following 
order : 

Weehawken, Patapsco, Nantucket, 

Passaic, Ironsides, Nahant, 

Montauk, Catskill, Keokuk. 

The Keokuk was built by a gentleman who had full faith in her 
invulnerability. She was to be tested under fire from the rebel batter- 
ies before accepted by the Government. She had sloping sides, two 
turrets, and was built for a ram. The opinions generally entertained 
were that she would prove a failure. 

General Hunter courteously assigned the steamer Nantucket to the 
gentlemen connected with the press, giving them complete control of 
the steamer, to go where they pleased, knowing that there was an 
intense desire not only in the North, but throughout the world, to know 
the result of the first contest between ironclads and fortifications. The 
Nantucket was a small side-wheel steamer of light draft, and we were 
able to run in and out over the bar at will. Just before the signal was 
given for the advance we ran alongside the flag-ship. The crew were 
hard at work hoisting shot and shells from the hold to the deck. The 
upper deck was bedded with sand-bags, the pilot-house wrapped with 
cable. All the light hamper was taken down and stowed away. The 
iron plating was slushed with grease. Confederate soldiers were march- 
ing across Morris Island, within easy range. A shell would have sent 
them in haste behind the sand-hills ; but heavier work was at hand, and 
they were harmless just then. 

It was past one o'clock when the signal for sailing was displayed 
from the flag-ship, and the Weehawken, with a raft at her prow, intended 
to remove torpedoes, answered the signal, raised her anchor, and went 
steadily in with the tide, followed by the others, which maintained their 
respective positions, distant from each other about one-third or a half- 
mile. In this battle of ironclads there were no clouds of canvas, no 
beautiful models of marine architecture, none of the stateliness and 



m. 




THE IRONCLADS IN ACTION. 253 

majesty which have marked hundreds of great naval engagements ; no 
human beings in sight, — no propelling power visible. There were 
simply eight black specks and one oblong block gliding along the 
water. 

But Sumter had discovered them, and discharged in quick succession 
nine signal guns, to announce to all Rebeldom that the attack was to be 
made. Morris Island was mysteriously silent as the Weehatvken ad- 
vanced, although the monitor was within range. Past Fort Wagner, 
straight on toward Moultrie the Weehawken moved. The silence was 
almost painful, — the calm before the storm, the hushed stillness before 
the burst of the tornado ! 

There comes a single puff of smoke from Moultrie, — one deep rever- 
beration. The silence is broken, — the long months of waiting are over. 
The shot flies across the water, skipping from wave to wave, tossing up 
fountains, hopping over the deck of the Weehawken, and rolling along 
the surface with a diminishing ricochet, sinking at last close upon the 
Morris Island beach. Fort Wagner continues the story, sending a shot 
at the Weehawken, which also trips lightly over the deck, and tosses up 
a waterspout far toward Moultrie. The Weehawken, unmindful of this 
play, opens its ports, and sends a fifteen-inch solid shot which crashes 
against the southwest face of the fort, followed a moment later by its 
eleven - inch companion. The vessel is for a moment enveloped in the 
smoke of its guns. Bravely done ! There comes an answer. Moultrie, 
with the tremendous batteries, bursts into sheets of flame and clouds of 
sulphurous smoke. There is one long roll of thunder, peal on peal ; 
reverberations and sharp concussions, rattling the windows of our 
deep, heavy steamers, and striking us at the heart like hammer strokes. 

The ocean boils ! Columns of spray are tossed high in air, as if a 
hundred submarine fountains were let instantly on, or a school of whales 
were trying which could spout highest. There is a screaming in the air, 
a buzzing and humming never before so loud. 

At five minutes before three Moultrie began the fire. Ten minutes 
have passed. The thunder has rolled incessantly from Sullivan's Island. 
Thus far Sumter has been silent, but now it is enveloped with a cloud. 
A moment it is hid from view — first a line of light along its parapet, 
and thick folds of smoke unrolling like fleeces of wool. Other flashes 
burst from the casemates, and the clouds creep down the wall to the 
water, then slowly float away to mingle with that rising from the fur- 
naces in the sand along the shore of Sullivan's Island. Then comes a 



254 THE BOYS OF '61. 

calm, — a momentary cessation. The Confederate gunners wait for the 
breeze to clear away the cloud, that they may obtain a view of the 
monitor, to see if it has not been punched into a sieve, and if it be not 
already disappearing beneath the waves. But the Weehawken is there, 
moving straight on up the channel, turning now toward Moultrie. To 
her it has been only a handful of peas or pebbles. Some have rattled 
against her turret, some upon her deck, some against her sides. Instead 
of going to the bottom, she revolves her turret, and fires two shots at 
Moultrie, moving on the while to gain the southeastern wall of Sumter. 

For fifteen minutes the Weehawken met the ordeal alone, but the 
Passaic, Montauk and Patapsco, one by one, joined in the attack — pass- 
ing on till within four hundred yards of the fort. The fire from Sumter 
and Moultrie was continuous and rapid, that from the monitors slow 
and deliberate. We could see clouds of dust rise above the walls as 
each shot from the ironclads struck the masonry. 

The New Ironsides, drawing seventeen feet of water, moved cau- 
tiously up the main ship channel, till within about one thousand yards, 
and fired four guns at Moultrie. She touched bottom and was obliged 
to change her course. She fired two guns at Sumter, but the tide was 
ebbing, and, instead of going on, turned back to some grounding perma- 
nently within range of the two forts, leaving the monitors to carry on 
the bombardment. The Keokuk drawing less water than the others, 
passed on to the front and was riddled by the fire of the fort, till the 
sea with every passing wave swept through the holes, and she was obliged 
to quit the contest or go to the bottom with all on board. 

The tide was ebbing fast, and the signal for retiring was displayed 
from the flag-ship, seemingly at an inopportune moment, for the fire of 
the fort was slackening. We now know that had the bombardment 
continued, a portion of the walls would soon have tumbled. The sun 
was going down, when the monitors retired. Had they remained in 
position they could have poured in their fire, while that of the fort quite 
likely in the darkness would have missed them. 

During the bombardment one hundred and fifty-three shots were fired 
by the fleet against nearly three thousand by the forts. The monitor 
received about three hundred and fifty shots. Of casualties none were 
killed ; one was mortally and thirteen slightly wounded. The officers 
reluctantly obeyed the signal to retire. With the exception of the 
Keokuk, the vessels were just as ready at the close as at the beginning 
to continue the bombardment. Admiral Dupont was severely criticised 



THE IRONCLADS IN ACTION. 255 

for hoisting the signal. It seems probable that he did not know, or mis- 
judged the actual condition of affairs. The Keokuk sunk the following 
morning ; but the vessels constructed after the model of the first moni- 
tor were but little injured. One shot only had ripped up a plate on the 
Patapsco and penetrated the wood beneath — other than this they were 
intact. The fleet returned to Hilton Head and Sumter was left to float 
its flag in defiance a while longer. A little more persistence on the 
part of the admiral, as we now know, would have won the victory. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

CHANCELLORSVILLE. 

THE Army of the Potomac in its winter quarters at Falmouth was 
preparing for the spring campaign. General Hooker inaugurated 
a new order of things in discipline. Officers who had shown unfitness 
were dismissed. Merit was commended. He issued orders that the 
soldiers should have cabbages, onions, and potatoes. He kept his plans 
to himself. Even his most trusted officers were not fully informed as 
to what he intended to do. But his plan embraced three features : a 
cavalry movement under Stoneman towards Richmond, from the Upper 
Rappahannock, to destroy Lee's communications, burning bridges and 
supplies ; the deploy of a portion of the army down the river to attract 
attention; and, lastly, a sudden march of the main body up the river, to 
gain a position near Chancellorsville, southwest of Fredericksburg, which 
would compel Lee to come out and fight, or evacuate the place. If he 
gained the position, he could stand on the defensive. 

Lee had sent two divisions of Longstreet's corps under that officer to 
North Carolina, and Hampton's cavalry was recruiting south of the 
James River. It was a favourable opportunity to strike a heavy blow. 

On the 27th of April the Eleventh Corps, under Howard, and the 
Twelfth under Slocum, at half -past five in the morning started for 
Kelley's Ford by the Hartwood Church road. 

The Third, under Sickles, and the Fifth, under Meade, moved at 
the same time, by a road nearer the river, in the same direction. The 
Second, under Couch, went towards United States Ford, which is only 
three miles from Chancellorsville. A dense fog hung over the river, 
concealing the movement. The Eleventh, Twelfth, and Fifth Corps 
marched fourteen miles during the day, and bivouacked at four o'clock 
in the afternoon a mile west of Hartwood Church. To Lee, who looked 
across the river from Fredericksburg, there was no change in the 
appearance of things on the Stafford hills. The camps of the Yankees 
were still there, dotting the landscape, teams were moving to and fro, 

256 



CHANCELLORSVILLE. 



257 



soldiers were at drill, and the smoke of camp-fires was curling through 
the air. 

During the evening of the 27th the pontoons belonging to the Sixth 
Corps were taken from the wagons, carried by the soldiers down to the 
river, and put into the water so noiselessly that the Confederate pickets 
stationed on the bank near Bernard's house had no suspicion of what 
was going on. The boats were manned by Russell's brigade. At a 
given signal they were 
pushed rapidly across 
the stream, and, be- 
fore the rebel pickets 
were aware of the 
movement, they found 
themselves prisoners. 
The First Corps went 
a mile farther down, 
to Southfield. It was 
daylight before the 
engineers of this corps 
could get their boats 
into the water. The 
rebel sharpshooters 
who were lying in 
rifle - pits along the 
bank commenced a 
deadly fire. To si- 
lence them, Colonel 
Warner placed forty 
pieces of artillery on 
the high bank over- 
looking the river, under cover of which the boats crossed, and the soldiers, 
leaping ashore, charged up the bank and captured one hundred and fifty 
rebels. The engineers in a short time had both bridges completed. 
General Wads worth's division of the First Corps was the first to cross 
the lower bridge. General Wadsworth had become impatient, and, 
instead of waiting for the completion of the structure, swam his horse 
across the stream. General Brooks, of the Sixth Corps, was the first 
to cross the bridge at Bernard's. 

It was now five o'clock in the morning:. There was great commotion 




MAJOR-GENERAL OLIVER O. HOWARD. 



258 THE BOYS OF '61. 

• 
in Fredericksburg. A courier dashed into town on horseback, shouting 
" The Yankees are crossing down the river." The church- bells were 
rung. The people who had returned to the town after the battle of the 
13th of December sprang from their beds. They went out and stood 
upon Maryee's Hill, looked across the river, and saw the country alive 
with troops. 

It was night before the remainder of the Sixth Corps crossed the 
stream, while the other two divisions of the First Corps still remained 
on the northern bank. Lee could not comprehend this new state of 
affairs. The night of the 28th passed, and no advance was made by 
the Sixth Corps. The morning of the 29th saw them in the same 
position, evidently in no haste to make an attack. 

Meanwhile the main body of the army was making a rapid march up 
the river. The Eleventh Corps reached Kelley's Ford, twenty -eight 
miles above Falmouth, at half -past four in the afternoon. The pontoons 
arrived at six o'clock. Four hundred men went over in the boats, and 
seized the rifle-pits, capturing a few prisoners, who were stationed there 
to guard the ford. As soon as the bridge was completed, the troops 
began to cross. The Seventeenth Pennsylvania cavalry preceded the 
infantry, pushed out on the road leading to Culpepper, and encountered 
a detachment of Stuart's cavalry. 

On the morning of the 29th, the Twelfth Corps, followed by the 
Eleventh, made a rapid march to Germanna Ford, on the Rapidan, 
while the Fifth Corps took the road leading to Ely's Ford. When the 
Twelfth Corps arrived at Germanna Ford at three o'clock in the after- 
noon, the rebels were discovered building a bridge. About one hundred 
of them were taken prisoners. Instead of waiting for the pontoons to 
be laid, the Twelfth forded the stream, which was deep and swift ; but 
the men held their cartridge-boxes over their heads, and thus kept their 
powder dry. 

The movement was admirably made, each corps coming into position 
at the appointed place and time, showing that the plan had been well 
matured in the mind of the commander-in-chief. 

Early on the morning of the 30th the Eleventh Corps, followed by 
the Twelfth, moved from Germanna Ford down the Stevensburg plank 
road to the Old Wilderness Tavern, which is about a mile and a half 
west of Chancellorsville. 

At noon of the 30th the Eleventh Corps reached its assigned position, 
between the Germanna road and Dowdal's tavern, forming the right flank 



CHANCELLORSVILLE. 



259 



of Hooker's line. The Third Corps, which had crossed at Ely's Ford, 
came down through the woods across Hunting Run, and formed on the 
left of the Eleventh, by the tavern. The Twelfth Corps filed past the 
Eleventh, along the Stevensburg road, and the Third Corps passed Chan- 
cellorsville, and moved almost to Tabernacle Church, on the Orange 




major-general joseph hooker at chancellorsville. 

and Fredericksburg plank road. The Second Corps, having crossed at 
Unj^ed States Ford, came into position a mile or more in rear of the 
F u enth and Third, while the Fifth moved up and formed a line facing 

can least, reaching from Chancellorsville to Scott's Dam on the Rappa- 
Jock, a mile and a half north of Chancellorsville. Lee was unde- 

attaf wna * t° do, but finally determined to leave Early's division of 



260 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Jackson's corps, and Barksdale's brigade of McLaw's division, and a 
part of the reserve artillery under Pendleton, to hold Fredericksburg, 
and move with the rest of the army to Chancellorsville and fight 
Hooker. He had already sent Anderson's division to watch the 
movement. 

On the morning of the 1st of May the whole army, except what was 
left to watch Sedgwick, was put in motion, with the intention of making 
a direct attack. 

He says : " The enemy had assumed a position of great natural 
strength, surrounded on all sides by a dense forest, filled with tangled 
undergrowth, in the midst of which breastworks of logs had been con- 
structed, with trees felled in front so as to form an impenetrable abatis. 
His artillery swept the few narrow roads by which his position could be 

approached from the front, and commanded the adjacent woods 

It was evident that a direct attack upon the enemy would be attended 
with great difficulty and loss, in view of the strength of his position and 
his superiority in numbers. It was therefore resolved to endeavour to 
turn his right flank, and gain his rear, leaving a force in front to hold 
him in check, and conceal the movement. The execution of this plan 
was intrusted to Lieutenant-General Jackson, with his three divisions." 

This movement of Lee's was very bold and hazardous. It divided his 
army into ihree parts, — one part watching the Sixth Corps at Freder- 
icksburg, another between Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg, and the 
force under Jackson, accompanied by Stuart's cavalry, moving to get in 
the rear of Hooker. Jackson was obliged to make a long circuit by 
Todd's Tavern and the Furnace road, moving first southwest toward 
Spottsylvania, then west toward Orange Court House, then north toward 
the Rapidan, then east toward the old sawmill on Hunting Run. 
Rodes's division reached the Old Wilderness Tavern about four o'clock 
in the afternoon. As the different divisions arrived they were formed 
across the Stevensburg plank road, Rodes in front, Trimble's division 
under General Colston in the second, and A. P. Hill in the third line. 

General Hooker, having decided to fight a defensive battle, ordered 
the construction of rifle-pits, and while Jackson was making this detour 
the position was strongly fortified against an attack from the direction 
of Fredericksburg. Early in the day it was reported that Lee wa ia l* - 
treating rapidly toward Culpeper Court House. From the cleared 
occupied by Sickles the rebel column could be seen moving south 11011 ? 
— artillery, baggage-train, and infantry. It was generally believe 111 ^ 



CHANCELLORSVILLE. 



261 



Hooker's army that Lee, finding the position too impregnable, was 
retiring. Sickles and Howard thought differently. 

" Lee has divided his army, and now is the time to strike," said 
General Sickles to Hooker. 




LIEUTENANT-GENERAL T. J. (STONEWALL) JACKSON. 

General Hooker hesitated. His plan was to stand wholly on the 
defensive. Still the column filed by. 

" The enemy is on my flank," was the message from Howard. " We 
can hear the sound of their axes in the woods." 

" Now is the time to double up Lee," said Sickles, again urging an 
attack. 



262 THE BOYS OF '61. 

" You may go out and feel the enemy, but don't go too fast, nor too 
far," said Hooker, at last yielding. 

Sickles soon came upon the rear of Jackson's passing troops and 
there was a sharp contest. 

The Eleventh Corps was formed in the following order: General 
Devens's division on the right, between the Stevensburg road and the old 
sawmill, facing northwest ; General Schurz's division south of the plank 
road, facing southwest ; General Schimmelfennig's brigade of Steinwehr's 
division also south of the road, reaching to Dowdal's Tavern ; Barlow's 
brigade north of the road, in rear of the centre. 

There was a gap from Dowdal's Tavern almost to Chancellorsville, 
from which Sickles had moved. Slocum had advanced beyond Chancel- 
lorsville southeast. The sending out of Sickles and Barlow, the advance 
of Slocum, and the position of the Second Corps, so far away to the 
rear, left Howard without any supports. 

Jackson came through the woods upon Howard's skirmishers, who 
fired and fell back. The firing attracted the attention of the men along 
the lines, who were cooking their suppers. Occasional shots had been 
fired during the afternoon, and there was no alarm till the skirmishers 
came out of the woods upon the run, followed by the rebels. The men 
seized their arms ; but, before Devens could get his regiments into posi- 
tion, the rebels were approaching his right flank, firing quick volleys 
and yelling like savages. Some of Devens's command fled, throwing 
away their guns and equipments. Others fought bravely. Devens, 
while endeavouring to rally his men, was wounded ; several of his officers 
fell ; yet he held his ground till the rebels gained his rear and began fir- 
ing into the backs of the men who stood behind the breastwork. Then 
the line gave way, abandoning five guns. 

It is manifest that, while a portion of the Eleventh Corps became 
panic - stricken, a large number of Howard's troops fought with great 
bravery. The corps numbered about thirteen thousand five hundred on 
the morning of May 1st. 

The force under Howard at the time of the attack did not exceed 
eleven thousand, mainly raw German troops. Howard's total loss in 
killed, wounded, and prisoners was two thousand five hundred and 
twenty-eight. Twenty-five officers and one hundred and fifty-three men 
were killed, seventy - eight officers and eight hundred and forty -two 
wounded, — a total loss of one thousand and ninety - eight killed and 
wounded, which shows the severity of this brief conflict. 



CHANCELLOKSVILLE. 



263 




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The Eleventh Corps has been severely censured for pusillanimous con- 
duct in this battle ; but when all of the facts are taken into considera- 
tion,— that Howard had no supports to call upon ; that the Third Corps 
was two miles and a half from its position in the line ; that Barlow's 



264 THE BOYS OF '61. 

brigade had been sent away ; that the attack was a surprise ; that Jack- 
son's force exceeded thirty thousand ; that, notwithstanding these disad- 
vantages, a " stubborn resistance " was offered, — praise instead of 
censure is due to those of tht Eleventh who thus held their ground, till 
one-fourth of their number w -re killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. 

Almost at the beginning of lie attack Devens was wounded. In the 
confusion and panic, there was no one to take his place till Howard 
arrived. Hooker was at once in his saddle. 

" The enemy have attacked Howard and driven him in," was his word 
to Sickles. 

" That can't be," said Sickles, incredulous. 

" Return at once," was the order from Hooker, by a second 
messenger. 

The heavy firing, constantly growing nearer, gave force to the 
instruction. 

It was now quite dark. Sickles set out to return with all possible 
haste, but soon found that he had got to fight his way back. Jackson's 
left wing had swept round, till it rested upon the road, over which he 
had marched on his way out to the Furnace. Berry's division came 
first upon the enemy. A severe contest ensued, lasting till nine o'clock, 
when he succeeded in re-establishing his connection with Howard, who 
had thus far fought the battles almost alone. Lee, with Anderson's 
command, all the while was making a demonstration against the Twelfth 
and Fifth Corps east of Chancellorsville, and the Second was too far in 
rear to be of any service to Howard before the return of Sickles and 
Barlow. 

Jackson gained no advantage after his first attack, but on the other 
hand came near experiencing a panic in his own lines. General Colston 
says : 

" We continued to drive the enemy until darkness prevented our 
farther advance. The firing now ceased, owing to the difficult and 
tangled nature of the ground over which the troops had advanced, and 
the mingling of my first and second lines of battle. The formation of 
the troops became very much confused, and different regiments, brig- 
ades, and divisions were mixed up together. . . . The troops were 
hardly reformed and placed in position when the enemy opened, about 
ten o'clock, a furious fire of shot, shell, and canister, sweeping down the 
plank road and the woods on each side. A number of artillery horses, 
some of them without drivers, and a great many infantry soldiers, 



mass 



CHANCELLORSVILLE. 267 

belonging to other commands, rushed down the road in wild 
disorder. " 

The Confederates had come upon a line of batteries which poured in 
so destructive a fire that it was impossible for them to advance. Twenty- 
two cannon placed in position by General Pleasanton, together with the 
fire of several regiments, held the Confederates at bay. It was at this 
moment that Stonewall Jackson, riding forward to make observations, 
fell, — the Confederates claiming by the fire of his own men, but the 
weight of evidence is against the claim. It seems probable that he was 
wounded by the volley fired by the Massachusetts First Regiment, which 
was less than three hundred feet distant. His left arm was shattered. 
He was borne to the rear and the arm amputated, but pneumonia set 
in, resulting in death. 

When the assault was made on Howard, the first move on the part of 
Hooker was to arrange for a new line. 

Both armies were busy through the night, preparing for the great 
struggle, — Lee to attack and Hooker to defend. The wounded were 
sent to the rear, also the baggage trains, and the cavalry, and everything 
which could impede operations. Hooker's line was in the form of the 
letter V. The Second Corps, which had followed Berry up the night 
before, occupied the right of the line, reaching nearly down to the river, 
joining the left flank upon Berry's division of the Third Corps, which 
extended to the plank road, west of Chancellorsville. Whipple's and 
Birney's divisions of the Third, and Geary's division of the Twelfth, 
formed the point of the letter V, which enclosed Chancellorsville. The 
other divisions of the Twelfth Corps and the Fifth Corps, forming the 
other side of the letter, extended from Chancellorsville to the Rappahan- 
nock. The Eleventh Corps was placed in position to support the Fifth, 
on the extreme left of the line. During the day the First Corps under 
Reynolds came up the river, crossed at United States Ford, and wheeled 
into position on the right of the Second Corps, thus forming the extreme 
right of the line. The troops had been busy through the night erecting 
breastworks, while a large number of guns were placed in position to 
sweep all the roads. Stuart renewed the fight at daylight, with Hill in 
the front line, Colston in the second, and Rodes in the third. He 
advanced with the intention of breaking the line near Chancellorsville. 
His troops were exasperated by the loss of their leader, and were 
animated by revenge. They came through the woods almost in solid 
mass, Colston's and Rodes's men, pressing eagerly forward, and closing 



268 THE BOYS OF '61. 

up the spaces between the lines. They received, without flinching, the 
terrible fire which flamed from Berry's and Birney's and Whipple's lines. 
They charged upon Sickles's outer works, and carried them. 

They advanced upon the second line, but were cut up by Best's artil- 
lery. Companies and regiments melted away. Berry and Birney 
advance to meet them. The living waves rolled against each other like 
the billows of a stormy sea. 

It was seven o'clock in the morning. The battle had been raging 
since daylight. The two divisions of the Second Corps swung out from 
the main line, faced southwest, and moved upon Stuart. 

South of Chancellorsville there is an elevation higher than that occu- 
pied by Best's artillery. When the fog which had hung over the battle- 
field all the morning lifted, Stuart sent his artillery to occupy the 
position. Thirty pieces were planted there, which enfiladed both of 
Hooker's lines. A heavy artillery duel was kept up, but, notwithstand- 
ing the severity of the fire, the Union troops held the position. Stuart, 
instead of breaking through Sickles, found the Second Corps turning his 
own left flank. He says : 

" The enemy was pressing our left with infantry, and all the rei- 
nforcements I could obtain were sent there. Colquitt's brigade of 
Trimble's division, ordered first to the right, was directed to the left to 
support Pender. Iverson's brigade of the second line was also engaged 
there, and the three lines were more or less merged into one line of battle, 
and reported hard pressed. Urgent requests were sent for reinforcements, 
and notices that the troops were out of ammunition. I ordered that the 
ground must be held at all hazards, if necessary with the bayonet." 

All of the efforts of Stuart to break the line by a direct infantry 
attack failed. But his batteries massed on the hill were doing great 
damage. The shells swept down Birney's and Whipple's and Berry's 
ranks on the one hand, and Geary's and Williams's on the other. 
Hooker saw that the position could not be held without great loss of life. 
Preparations were accordingly made to fall back to a stronger position, 
where his army would be more concentrated, the lines shorter and 
thicker, in the form of a semicircle. Meanwhile Lee swung Anderson 
round and joined Stuart, making a simultaneous advance of both wings 
of his army, under cover of a heavy fire from all his available artillery, 
— pouring a storm of shells upon Chancellorsville, firing the buildings. 
Hooker had begun to retire before Lee advanced, withdrawing his artil- 
lery, removing his wounded, losing no prisoners. 




WOUNDING OF " STONEWALL JACKSON. 



CHANCELLORSVILLE. 271 

Every attack of Anderson upon Slocum had been repulsed with great 
loss. A South Carolina regiment came against the Second Massachu- 
setts. Three times the men from the Palmetto State charged upon the 
men of Massachusetts. Three times the flag from the Old Bay State 
changed hands. But, before the rebels could carry it from the field, it 
was rescued, and at the close of the fight was still in the hands of the 
regiment. When Slocum's troops had exhausted their ammunition 
they emptied the cartridge-boxes of the fallen. When that was gone 
they held the ground by the bayonet, till ordered to retire. 

The new line taken by Hooker was one of great strength. No 
assault, with the intention of carrying it, was made by Lee. News of 
disaster from Fredericksburg, where Sedgwick was driving all before 
him, made it necessary for him to send reinforcements in that direction. 

An important part of General Hooker's plan was Sedgwick's move- 
ment on Fredericksburg, but the battle fought there on Sunday, the 
3d of May, was wholly distinct from Chancellorsville. Early on the 
morning of the 2d, Professor Lowe went up in his balloon, from 
the Falmouth hills, and looked down upon the city. 

He reported the rebels moving towards Chancellorsville. Looking 
closely into the entrenchments behind Fredericksburg, he discovered that 
the rebels intended to hold them. 

" Ten thousand of the enemy, I should judge, still there," was his 
report to General Butterfield, Hooker's chief of staff, who remained 
with Sedgwick. 

During the day Reynolds withdrew and moved up the Falmouth side 
to United States Ford. The Confederates saw the movement, and 
thought that the Yankees did not dare to make a second attempt to 
drive them from their entrenchments. 

" Now is the time for Sedgwick to attack them," was Hooker's 
despatch from Chancellorsville, Saturday afternoon, to General 
Butterfield. 

As soon as night came on, Sedgwick began his preparations. The 
engineers were directed to take up the lower pontoons and lay a new 
bridge opposite the Lacy house, at the point where the Seventh Michigan 
and Nineteenth and Twentieth Massachusetts won for themselves great 
honour on the 11th of December. 

" Kindle no fires ; let there be no loud talking," were Sedgwick's 
orders to his troops on the plain by Bernard's house, below Deep Run. 
The men ate their suppers of hard-tack and cold meat in silence, threw 



272 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



themselves upon the ground, and slept soundly in the calm moonlight. 
At midnight an aid rode along the lines, saying to each officer, " Get 
your men in readiness at once." The men sprang to their feet, folded 
their blankets, and were ready. 

It was half- past twelve Sunday morning before the forward move- 
ment began. The United States Chasseurs were in advance as skir- 




MA.TOR- GENERAL JOHN SEDGWICK. 

mishers, deployed on both sides of the Bowling Green road. Shaler's 
brigade followed, then Wheaton's and Brown's brigades. They crossed 
Deep Run, where the skirmishers had a few shots with the rebel 
pickets, and moved into the town. 

The engineers soon had the bridge completed, and Gibbon's division 
of the Second Corps, which had been waiting by the Lacy House, 
crossed the stream. 



CHANCELLORSVILLE. 273 

Early stationed Barksdale, with seven companies of the Twenty-first 
Mississippi, between Maryee's house and the plank road, with the 
Seventeenth and Thirteenth Mississippi on the hills by the Howison 
house, and the Eighteenth and the remainder of the Twenty-first behind 
the stone wall at the base of the hill. Hayes's brigade, consisting of 
the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Louisianians, was on the 
hill, near the monument, with Wilcox's brigade in its rear, guarding 
Banks's Ford. Early himself was by Hazel Run, with Gordon's, 
Hoke's, and Smith's brigades. 

Sedgwick's divisions were formed in the following order : Gibbon 
above the town, in front of the monument, Newton in front of Maryee's 
Hill, Howe at the lower end of the town, and Brooks on the plain 
below. 

The morning dawned. The fog prevented the Confederates from 
seeing the movements of Sedgwick, though Barksdale's pickets reported 
the town full of Yankees. From Chancellorsville came the roar of 
battle, the constant thunder of the cannonade. It was half -past five 
when Shaler's brigade of Newton's division moved over the field where 
so many thousands fell on the 13th of December. It was a reconnois- 
sance to ascertain the position and number of the force holding the 
place. The men marched on gallantly, but were forced to retire before 
the Mississippians and the artillery on the hill. 

Sedgwick brought Hearn's, Martin's, Adams's, and Hazard's batteries, 
and Battery D of the Second United States Regiment of artillery, into 
position in the town and above it, while Hexamer's, the First Maryland, 
and McCartney's First Massachusetts occupied the ground below Hazel 
Run. McCartney was on the same spot which he occupied in the first 
battle. 

It was a day of peace everywhere except at Fredericksburg and 
Chancellorsville. The air was laden with the fragrance of flowers 
blooming in the gardens of the town. Thousands of spectators stood 
upon the Falmouth hills watching the contest. All the batteries were 
at work, — the heavy guns at Falmouth, at the Lacy House, and farther- 
down, throwing shells and solid shot over the town into the rebel lines. 

Gibbon, instead of advancing directly up the hill towards the monu- 
ment, where Hayes was lying behind the entrenchments, moved up the 
river road, intending to turn Hayes's right flank. Hayes moved his 
men farther up, and sent a courier to Wilcox with the message, " The 
Yankees are coming up the river road." 



274 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



Wilcox left fifty men to guard the ford, and went upon the run 
towards the town. It was an anxious moment to the rebels. Barksdale 
and Hayes and Wilcox all met at Stanisberry's house, and consulted as 
to what should be done. Early, their commander, was down on the 
Telegraph road, looking after matters in that direction. 

" The Yankees are in full force below the town," said Barksdale. 
That was the first information Wilcox had received of the startling 

fact. They had been outgeneralled. 
They supposed that the movement 
below the town was a feint. They 
had seen Reynolds withdraw and 
march up-stream toward Chancellors- 
ville, but had not seen Gibbon cross 
the stream. Yet he was there, mov- 
ing to the attack. 

" Put your batteries into position 
and play upon them," said Barks- 
dale. Huger's battery galloped up, 
chose a fine position on the hill near 
Dr. Taylor's house, and began to fire 
upon the Massachusetts Twentieth, 
which was in the road, compelling 
it to seek shelter under the hill. So 
effectual was the fire that Gibbon's 
advance was checked. 
Brooks and Howe moved against the rebels below the town, but found 
them strongly posted. 

Twice Newton advanced upon Maryee's Hill, and was driven back. 
The forenoon was waning. But though baffled, Sedgwick was not dis- 
posed to give up the attempt. He watched the contest closely, recon- 
noitring all the positions of the rebels, and determined to make an 
attack with his whole force at once. 

He determined to carry Maryee's Hill at the point of the bayonet. 
Some of the officers thought it an impossibility. It had been tried three 
times in the first battle and twice during that morning, and all attempts 
had failed. He formed his columns in three lines, with the intention of 
moving his whole force at once, — thus preventing Early from sending 
any reinforcements from other parts of the lines. 

It is past eleven o'clock before all the dispositions are made. 




MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN NEWTON. 



CHANCELLORSVILLE. 



275 



" Go upon the double-quick. Don't fire a shot. Give them the 
bayonet. Carry the rifle-pits, charge up the hill, and capture the guns," 
are the instructions. 

The men throw aside everything which will hinder them, fix their 
bayonets, and prepare for the work. Their blood is up. They know 




Union Positions. 

1. Gibbon's Division. 

2. Newton's " 

3. Howe's " 
i. Brooks's " 



Rebel Positions. 

A. Hayes's Brigade. 

B. Barksdale's Brigade. 

C. Early's Division. 

Gordon's, Hokes's, and Smith's Biv 
gades. 

D. Wilcox's Brigade. 



that it is to be a desperate struggle. But it is not death that they are 
thinking of, but victory ! 

The Sixty-first Pennsylvania and Forty-third New York move over 
the bridge and across the canal. Their advance is the signal for all the 
lines. The men rise from the ground where they have been lying 



276 THE BOYS OF '61. 

sheltered from the Confederate shells. The batteries above them are 
in a blaze. The stone wall at the base of the hill is aflame. Barksdale 
sees the threatening aspect. " 1 am hard pressed," is his message to 
Wilcox. " Send me reinforcements." But Gibbon is moving on Wilcox, 
and the latter cannot respond. 

Cool and steady the advance. The hills rain canister. The sunken 
road is a sheet of flame. But onward into the storm, with a cheer, 
heard above the roar of battle upon the distant Falmouth hills, the 
soldiers rush into the sunken road and capture those defending it. 
They climb the hill ; reach the breastworks ; leap over them and seize 
the cannon. 

Barksdale puts spurs to his horse and rides to the rear, leaving half 
of his brigade and eight guns in the hands of the victors. 

Early fled down the Telegraph road. Hayes also ran. Wilcox, who 
was not aware of the disaster, remained in position on Taylor's Hill, 
wondering what had happend. Had Sedgwick known his position, the 
whole of Wilcox's brigade might have been captured ; but it required 
time to reform the lines, and Wilcox made his escape. 

Long and loud and joyous were the shouts of the victors. The strong- 
hold had been wrested from the rebels at last. 

It was Sunday noon. Hooker had just fallen back from Chancellors- 
ville, and the Confederates were rejoicing over their success, when a 
messenger reached Lee with the tidings of disaster. Fredericksburg was 
lost, after all. It must be recovered, or the victory at Chancellorsville 
would be only a disastrous defeat. 

Sedgwick telegraphed his success to Hooker. 

" Move and attack Lee in rear," was Hooker's order. 

Lee sent McLaws to hold Sedgwick in check. The time had come 
when Hooker should have assumed the offensive. It was an auspicious 
moment, — a golden opportunity, such as does not often come to military 
commanders. But having formed his plan of fighting a defensive battle, 
he did not depart from it, and lost the victory which lay within his 
grasp. 

Sedgwick having carried the heights of Fredericksburg, instead of 
following Early down the Telegraph road, made preparations to move 
towards Chancellorsville, and join Hooker. 

Wilcox, meanwhile, brought two of Huger's rifle-guns into position 
near Dr. Taylor's house, and opened fire. He also threw out his skir- 
mishers, made a display of his force, and looked round to see what 



CHANCELLORSVILLE. 277 

could be done to escape his perilous position. Sedgwick brought up a 
battery, and moved forward his lines. Wilcox fled, and succeeded, by 
rapid marching under the shelter of a pine thicket, in gaining the plank 
road, near Salem Church, where he was joined by General McLaws, and 
where also Barksdale rallied his troops. 

Sedgwick brought up his artillery and commenced a fire upon the 
church, and the woods beyond it. Wilcox had formed his line across 
the plank road. His sharpshooters were in the church. He had four 
pieces of artillery in the road and on each side of it. He also threw a 
company of sharpshooters into a schoolhouse near the church. Ker- 
shaw's and Russell's and Bartlett's brigades moved forward to rout the 
enemy from the woods, Sedgwick supposing there was but a small force 
to oppose him. The advance was over ground slightly ascending, 
through an open field, towards the woods, where the rebel skirmishers 
were lying. It is a narrow belt of woods. Behind it were the church 
and schoolhouse, and beyond the church the woods where the main body 
of the rebels were lying. They drove the skirmishers from the belt 
of woods, halted a moment to reform their lines, gave three cheers, 
charged through the grove, routing the rebels there concealed. They 
surrounded the schoolhouse, captured the entire company of the Ninth 
Alabama stationed in it, put to flight a regiment lying behind the house. 
But the remainder of the Ninth Alabama, with other regiments, came to 
the rescue, succeeded in recapturing a portion of their comrades, and 
forced Russell and Bartlett to retire. 

It was now nearly six o'clock in the afternoon, and till night set in 
there was heavy fighting along the whole line. Wilcox and Semmes 
several times advanced upon Sedgwick, but were repulsed. So far as 
numbers were concerned the contest was about equal. But the rebels 
were on commanding ground, and protected by the woods, while Sedg- 
wick was in the open field. In this contest Wilcox lost four hundred 
and ninety-five men. He had six officers killed and twenty-three 
wounded. Semmes lost six hundred and eighty -three killed and 
wounded, Wafford five hundred and sixty-two. The whole loss of the 
rebels in the fight at Salem Church was nearly two thousand. Sedg- 
wick, instead of advancing again, waited for the rebels to attack him, 
but they did not choose to come out from their strong position in the 
woods and try it a second time in the field. Thus the day closed. 

Half of Lee's army was arrayed against Sedgwick, who held his ground 
through the 4th till night. Early, during the day, retraced his steps up 



278 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



the Telegraph road, and, finding that Sedgwick had moved out to Salem 
Church, and that the fortifications were unoccupied, took possession, 
and thus cut Sedgwick's communications with Falmouth. When Ander- 
son arrived he had no alternative but to retreat by Banks's Ford, where 
he crossed the river, without loss, during the night. Hooker also re- 
crossed, took up his bridges, and the army returned again to its camp. 
In reviewing this battle, it is apparent that Hooker's movement to 




Union Positions. 

1. Newton's Division. 

2. Brooks's " 
8. Howe's u 



Rebel. Positions. 

A. Semmes and Mahone. 

B. Wilcox. 

C. Kershaw and Wofford. 
D Barksdale. 

E. Reinforcements. 

F. Dr. Taylor's. 

O. Route of Wiloox's Retreat 



Chancellorsville was a surprise to Lee. It was excellently planned and 
efficiently executed, — each corps reaching its assigned position at the 
time appointed by the commander-in-chief. It is plain that Hooker's 
departure from his original intention — to await an attack from Lee — 
was the cause of the disaster at the beginning of the engagement. 
Sickles' s corps and Barlow's brigade being absent, the balance of the 
Eleventh Corps had no supports. 



CHANCELLORSVILLE. 279 

Had Sickles's corps and Barlow's brigade been in the line, there 
would have been not only no disaster, but Jackson would have been 
defeated at the outset ; for, upon the return of those troops from Scott's 
Run, he was driven with great loss. 

Jackson was driven by Sickles when the Third Corps returned to the 
line ; and had Sickles and Barlow been in their proper positions when 
the attack was made, they could have repulsed him with greater ease. 

Though Jackson's attack was successful, it is not therefore conclusively 
evident that Lee's plan was wise. His army was divided into three 
parts, — Early at Fredericksburg, Lee east of Chancellorsville, and Jack- 
son northwest of it. Being thoroughly acquainted with the country, he 
was able to take his position unobserved. 

There were several opportunities during the battle when Hooker could 
have broken Lee's lines. The battle virtually was lost to Lee on Sunday 
noon. Hooker had fallen back from Chancellorsville, but Sedgwick had 
taken Fredericksburg. Had Hooker, when he ordered Sedgwick to 
attack Lee in the rear, on Sunday afternoon, himself advanced, Lee 
would have been forced to abandon the contest ; but having resolved at 
the outset to stand on the defensive, the Union commander adhered 
to the idea, and thus Lee was able to retrieve the disaster at 
Fredericksburg. 

The strategy of Hooker in the movement of the army to Chancellors- 
ville must be regarded as exceedingly brilliant, but the tactics pursued 
after gaining his position were very faulty. It is said that in the bom- 
bardment he was stunned by the explosion of a shell at the Chancellors- 
ville invasion, and that he did not fully recover his intellectual powers 
for several hours. But aside from this, it must be said that there was an 
error of judgment when he concluded before the battle began that Lee 
was retreating towards Gordonsville. True, Jackson was moving in 
that direction, but it was hardly probable that the Confederate com- 
mander would retire in that direction, exposing Richmond, or that he 
would retire at all, without first fighting a battle. 



CHAPTER XV. 

GETTYSBURG. 

THE success of Lee at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville led to an 
aggressive movement on the part of the Confederates. The South- 
ern people demanded that the North should be invaded. The army of 
Northern Virginia had compelled McClellan to retire from the Penin- 
sula. It had won the battles of the second Manassas, Fredericksburg, 
and Chancellorsville. It had been only once defeated — at Antietam. 
The Confederate soldiers composing it believed that under Lee they 
were invincible. The Confederate Government believed, and with 
reason, that if a great victory could be won on Northern soil it would 
secure recognition of independence on the part of Great Britain and 
France, and the breaking of the blockade by those powers. With so 
much to be gained it was resolved to invade Pennsylvania. 

General Hooker, at Fredericksburg, the first week in June, received 
positive information that Lee was breaking up his camp, and that some 
of his divisions were moving towards Culpeper. The dust clouds which 
rose above the tree tops indicated that the Confederate army was in 
motion. The Army of the Potomac immediately broke up its camp and 
moved to Catlett's Station, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, 
where intelligence was received that 1 Stuart had massed his cavalry at 
Brandy Station for a raid in Pennsylvania. 

General Pleasanton, commanding the cavalry, was sent with his entire 
force to look into the matter. He fell upon Stuart on the 9th of June, 
on the broad, open plains along the Rappahannock. A desperate battle 
ensued, — probably it was the greatest cavalry battle of the war, — in 
which Stuart was driven back upon the infantry, which was being 
hurried up from Culpeper to his support. The object of the attack 
was accomplished, — Stuart's raid was postponed and Lee's movement 
unmasked. On the same day, Lee's advanced divisions reached Win- 
chester, attacked General Milroy, captured the town, the cannon in the 
fortifications, and moved on to the Potomac. 

280 



GETTYSBURG. 281 

Hastening to Pennsylvania, I became an observer of the great events 
which followed. The people of the Keystone State in 1862 rushed to 
arms when Lee crossed the Potomac, but in 1863 they were strangely 
apathetic, — intent upon conveying their property to a place of security, 
instead of defending their homes. In '62 the cry was, " Drive the 
enemy from our soil ! " in '63, " Where shall we hide our goods ? " 

Harrisburg was a Bedlam when I entered it on the 15th of June. 

The railroad stations were crowded with an excited people, — men 
women, and children, — with trunks, boxes, bundles ; packages tied up 
in bed-blankets and quilts ; mountains of baggage, — tumbling it into 
cars, rushing here and there in a frantic manner ; shouting, screaming, 
as if the rebels were about to dash into the town and lay it in ashes. 
The railroad authorities were removing their cars and engines. The 
merchants were packing up their goods ; housewives were secreting their 
silver ; everywhere there was a hurly-burly. The excitement was in- 
creased when a train of army wagons came rumbling over the long 
bridge across the Susquehanna, accompanied by a squadron of cavalry. 
It was Milroy's train, which had been ordered to make its way into 
Pennsylvania. 

" The rebels will be here to-morrow or next day," said the teamsters. 

At the State House, men in their shirt-sleeves were packing papers into 
boxes. Every team, every horse and mule and handcart in the town 
were employed. There was a steady stream of teams thundering across 
the bridge ; farmers from the Cumberland Valley, with their household 
furniture piled upon the great wagons peculiar to the locality ; bedding, 
tables, chairs, their wives and children perched on the top; kettles and 
pails dangling beneath ; boys driving cattle and horses, excited, worried, 
fearing they knew not what. The scene was painful, yet ludicrous. 

General Couch was in command at Harrisburg. He had but a few 
troops. He erected fortifications across the river, planted what few 
cannon he had, and made preparations to defend the place. 

General Lee was greatly in need of horses, and his cavalry men, under 
General Jenkins, ravaged the Cumberland Valley. A portion visited 
Chambersburg ; another party, Mercersburg ; another, Gettysburg, before 
any infantry entered the State. 

Ewell's corps of Lee's army crossed the Potomac, a division at Williams- 
port, and another at Shepardstown, on the 22d of June, and came to- 
gether at Hagerstown. The main body of Lee's army was at Winchester. 
Stuart had moved along the eastern base of the Blue Ridge, and had 



282 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



S^T&EiE?" °h P1 — ' s e ^ at ^ •« 




MEADE. 



ylvamans. Instead of hurrymg northward with their household 



GETTYSBURG. 283 

furniture, they were hard at work building fortifications and barricading 
the streets. 

General Hooker waited in front of Washington till he was certain of 
Lee's intentions, and then by a rapid march pushed on to Frederick. 
Lee's entire army was across the Potomac. Ewell was at York, enrich- 
ing himself by reprisals, stealings, and confiscations. General Hooker 
asked that the troops at Harper's Ferry might be placed under his com- 
mand, that he might wield the entire available force and crush Lee; 
this was refused, whereupon he informed the War Department that, 
unless this condition were complied with, he wished to be relieved of 
the command of the army. The matter was laid before the President 
and his request was granted. General Meade was placed in command ; 
and what was denied to General Hooker was substantially granted to 
General Meade, — that he was to use his best judgment in holding or 
evacuating Harper's Ferry. 

The Eleventh Corps marched fifty-four miles in two days, — a striking 
contrast to the movement in September, 1862, when the army made but 
five miles a day. 

General Meade cared but little for the pomp and parade of war. His 
own soldiers respected him because he was always prepared to endure 
hardships. They saw a tall, slim, gray-bearded man, wearing a slouch 
hat, a plain blue blouse, with his pantaloons tucked into his boots. He 
was plain of speech, and familiar in conversation. He enjoyed in a high 
degree, especially after the battle of Fredericksburg, the confidence of 
the President. 

I saw him soon after he was informed that the army was under his 
command. There was no elation, but on the contrary he seemed 
weighed down with a sense of the responsibility resting on him. It was 
in the hotel at Frederick. He stood silent and thoughtful by himself. 
Few of all the noisy crowd around knew of the change that had taken 
place. The correspondents of the press knew it long before the corps 
commanders were informed of the fact. No change was made in the 
machinery of the army, and there was but a few hours' delay in its 
movement. 

General Hooker bade farewell to the principal officers of the army on 
the afternoon of the 28th. They were drawn up in line. He shook 
hands with each officer, labouring in vain to stifle his emotion. The 
tears rolled down his cheeks. The officers were deeply affected. He 
said that he had hoped to lead them to victory, but the power above him 



284 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



had ordered otherwise. He spoke in high terms of General Meade. He 
believed that they would defeat the enemy under his leadership. 

While writing out the events of the day in the parlour of a private 
house during the evening, I heard the comments of several officers upon 
the change which had taken place. 

" Well, I think it is too bad to have him removed just now," said a 
captain. 







JUNCTION 



(jfTREDERlCK 



" I wonder if we shall have McClellan back ? " queried a lieutenant. 

" Well, gentlemen, I don't know about Hooker as a commander in 
the field, but I do know the Army of the Potomac was never so well 
fed and clothed as it has been since Joe Hooker took command." 

" That is so," said several. 

After a short silence, another officer took up the conversation and 
said: 

" Yes, the army was in bad condition when he took command of it, 
and bad off every way ; but it never was in better condition than it is 
to-day, and the men begin to like him." 

The army was too patriotic to express any dissatisfaction, and in a 
few days the event was wholly forgotten. 



GETTYSBURG. 



285 



The army commanded by General Meade consisted of seven corps. 
1. Major-General Reynolds ; 2. Major-General Hancock ; 3. Major- 




ox THE MARCH TO GETTYSBURG. 



General Sickles ; 5. Major-General Sykes ; 6. Major-General Sedgwick ; 
11. Major-General Howard ; 12. Major-General Slocum. 

As Ewell was at York, and as Lee was advancing in that direction, it 



286 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



was necessary to take a wide sweep of country in the march. All Sun- 
day the army was passing through Frederick. 

Cavalry, infantry, and artillery were pouring through the town, the 
bands playing, and the soldiers singing their liveliest songs. The First 
Corps moved up the Emmettsburg road, and formed the left of the line ; 
the Eleventh Corps marched up a parallel road a little farther east, 
through Griegerstown. The Third and Twelfth Corps moved on paral- 
lel roads leading to Taney town. The Second and Fifth moved still 
farther east, through Liberty and Uniontown, while the Sixth, with 
Gregg's division of cavalry, went to Westminster, forming the right of 
the line. 

The lines of march were like the sticks of a fan, Frederick being the 
point of divergence. 

On this same Sunday afternoon Lee was at Chambersburg, directing 
Ewell, who was at York, to move to Gettysburg. A. P. Hill was mov- 
ing east from Chambersburg towards the same point, while Longstreet's, 
the last corps to cross the Potomac, was moving through Waynesboro' 
and Fairfield, marching northeast towards the same point. 

It was a glorious spectacle, that movement of the army north from 
Frederick. I left the town accompanying the Second and Fifth 
Corps. Long lines of men and innumerable wagons were visible in 
every direction. The people of Maryland welcomed the soldiers 
hospitably. 

When the Fifth Corps passed through the town of Liberty, a farmer 
rode into the village, mounted on his farm - wagon. His load was 
covered by white table-cloths. 

" What have ye got to sell, old fellow ? Bread, eh ?" said a soldier, 
raising a corner of the cloth, and revealing loaves of sweet, soft, plain 
bread, of the finest wheat, with several bushels of ginger cakes. 

" What do you ask for a loaf ? " 

" I have n't any to sell," said the farmer. 

" Have n't any to sell ? What are ye here for ? " 

The farmer made no reply. 

" See here, old fellow, won't ye sell me a hunk of your gingerbread ? " 
said the soldier, producing an old wallet. 

« No." 

" Well, you are a mean old cuss. It would be serving you right to 
tip you out of your old bread-cart. Here we are marching all night and 
all day to protect your property, and fight the rebs. We haven't had 



GETTYSBURG. 287 

any breakfast, and may not have any dinner. You are a set of mean 
cusses round here, I reckon," said the soldier. 

A crowd of soldiers had gathered, and others expressed their indigna- 
tion. The old farmer stood up on his wagon-seat, took off the table- 
cloths, and replied : 

" I did n't bring my bread here to sell. My wife and daughters set up 
all night to bake it for you, and you are welcome to all I 've got, and 
wish I had ten times as much. Help yourselves, boys." 

" Hurrah ! hurrah ! hurrah ! " " Bully for you ! " " You 're a brick ! " 
" Three cheers for the old man ! " " Three more for the old woman ! " 
" Three more for the girls ! " 

They threw up their caps, and fairly danced with joy. The bread and 
cakes were gone in a twinkling. 

" See here, my friend, I take back all the hard words I said about 
you," said the soldier, shaking hands with the farmer, who sat on his 
wagon, overcome with' emotion. 

On Tuesday evening, General Reynolds, who was at Emmettsburg, 
sent word to General Meade that the rebels were evidently approaching 
Gettysburg. At the same time, the rebel General Stuart, with his cav- 
alry, appeared at Westminster. He had tarried east of the Blue Ridge 
till Lee was across the Potomac, — till Meade had started from Fred- 
erick, — then crossing the Potomac at Edwards's Ferry, he pushed 
directly northeast of the Monocacy, east of Meade's army, through West- 
minster, where he had a slight skirmish with some of the Union 
cavalry, moved up the pike to Littlestown and Hanover, and joined 
Lee. 

Riding to Westminster I overtook General Gregg's division of cav- 
alry, and on Wednesday moved forward with it to Hanover Junction, 
which is thirty miles east of Gettysburg. There, while our horses were 
eating their corn at noon, I heard the distant cannonade, the opening of 
the great battle. 

Striking across the country I reached Hanover, just as an engagement 
between Kilpatrick and Stuart was closing. Had I come upon the 
ground a few minutes earlier I should have ridden into the Confederate 
line. 

There were dead horses and dead soldiers in the streets lying where 
they fell. The wounded had been gathered into a schoolhouse, and the 
warm-hearted women of the place were ministering to their comfort. It 
was evening. The bivouac fires of the Fifth Corps were gleaming in the 



288 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



meadows west of the town, and the worn and weary soldiers were asleep, 
catching a few hours of repose before moving on to the place where they 
were to lay down their lives for their country. 

It was past eight o'clock on Thursday morning, July 2d, before we 
reached the field. The Fifth Corps, turning off from the Hanover road, 

east of Rock Creek, passed over to 
the Baltimore pike, crossed Rock 
Creek, filed through the field on 
the left hand and moved towards 
Little Round-top. 

Riding directly up the pike to- 
wards the cemetery, I saw the 
Twelfth Corps on my right, in the 
thick woods crowning Culp's Hill. 
Beyond, north of the pike, was the 
First Corps. Ammunition wagons 
were going up, and the artillery- 
men were filling their limber 
chests. Pioneers were cutting 
down the trees. 

Reaching the top of the hill in 
front of the cemetery gate, the 
battle-field was in view. 

Tying my horse and ascending 
the stairs to the top of the gate- 
way building, I could look directly 
down upon the town. The houses were not forty rods distant. North- 
east, three-fourths of a mile, was Culp's Hill. 

On the northern side of the Baltimore pike were newly mown fields, 
the grass springing fresh and green since the mower had swept over it. 
In those fields were batteries with breastworks thrown up by Howard on 
Wednesday night, — light affairs, not intended to resist cannon-shot, but 
to protect the cannoneers from sharpshooters. Howard's lines of in- 
fantry were behind stone walls. The cannoneers were lying beside their 
pieces, — sleeping perhaps, but at any rate keeping close, for, occasion- 
ally, a bullet came singing past them. Looking north over the fields, a 
mile or two, we saw a beautiful farming country, — fields of ripened 
grain, — russet mingled with the green in the landscape. 

Having taken a general look at the field, I rode forward towards the 




MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN BUFORD. 



GETTYSBURG. 289 

town, between Stewart's and Taft's batteries, in position on eitber side 
of the road. Soldiers in blue were lying behind the garden fences. 

" Where are you going ? " said one. 

" Into the town." 

"I reckon not. The rebs hold it, and I advise you to turn about. 
It is rather dangerous where you are. The rebels are right over there 
in that brick house." 

Right over there was not thirty rods distant. 

" Ping ! " — and there was the sharp ring of a bullet over our heads. 

General Howard was in the cemetery with his maps and plans spread 
upon the ground. 

" We are just taking a lunch, and there is room for one more," was 
his kind and courteous welcome. Then removing his hat, he asked God 
to bless the repast. The bullets were occasionally singing over us. 
Soldiers were taking up the headstones and removing the monuments 
from their pedestals. 

" I want to preserve them, besides, if a shot should strike a stone, the 
pieces of marble would be likely to do injury," said the General. 

While partaking of our refreshment, he narrated the operations of the 
preceding day. 

On Tuesday evening, the 30th of June, General Reynolds was in camp 
on Marsh Run, a short distance from Emmettsburg, while General How- 
ard, with the Eleventh Corps, was in that town. Instructions were re- 
ceived from General Meade assigning General Reynolds to the command 
of the First, Eleventh, and Third Corps. General Reynolds moved early 
in the morning to Gettysburg, and sent orders to General Howard to 
follow. General Howard received the orders at eight o'clock in the 
morning. General Barlow's division of the Eleventh followed the First 
Corps by the most direct road while General Schurz's and General Stein- 
wehr's divisions went by Horner's Mills, the distance being thirteen 
miles. General Howard, with his staff, pushed on in advance of his 
troops. 

Buford's division of cavalry passed through Gettysburg on Tuesday 
and went into camp a mile and a half west of the town on the Cham- 
bersburg pike. At 9.30 a. m. on Wednesday, A. P. Hill's division ap- 
peared in front of him, and skirmishing commenced on the farm of Hon. 
Edward McPherson. General Reynolds rode into Gettysburg about ten 
o'clock, in advance of his troops, turned up the Chambersburg road, 
reconnoitred the position, rode back again, met the head of his column 



290 THE BOYS OF '61. 

a mile down the Emmettsburg road, turned it directly across the fields, 
towards the seminary, and deployed his divisions across the Chambers- 
burg- road. General Archer's brigade of Heth's division of A. P. Hill's 
corps was advancing eastward, unaware of Reynolds's movement. He 
had passed Herr's tavern, two miles beyond the town, when he found 
himself face to face with General Meredith's brigade of Reynolds's com- 
mand. The fight opened at once. Archer and several hundred of his 
men were captured. General Cutler, pushing out from the town be- 
tween the half-finished railroad and the Chambersburg road, came in 
contact with Davis's brigade of Mississippians. The contest increased. 
General Reynolds, while riding along the line, was killed in the field 
beyond the Seminary, and the command devolved on General Doubleday. 

General Howard heard the cannonade, and riding rapidly up the 
Emmettsburg road entered the town, sent messengers in search of Gen- 
eral Reynolds, asking for instructions, not knowing that he had been 
killed. ' 

While waiting the return of his aids, he went to the top of the 
college to reconnoitre the surrounding country. His aid, Major Biddle, 
soon came back, with the sad intelligence that General Reynolds had 
fallen, and that the command devolved on himself. 

It was half -past eleven. The rebels were appearing in increased 
force. The prisoners said that the whole of A. P. Hill's corps was 
near by. 

" You will have your hands full before night. Longstreet is near, 
and Ewell is coming," said one, boastingly. 

" After an examination of the general features of the country," said 
General Howard, " I came to the conclusion that the only tenable 
position for my limited force was on this ridge. I saw that this was 
the highest point. You will notice that it commands all the other 
eminences. My artillery can sweep the fields completely." 

He pointed towards the north, where across the pike, just beyond 
the gateway, were Colonel Wainwright's batteries of the First Corps, 
and around us were Colonel Osborn's of the Eleventh. Behind us, east 
of the cemetery, was some of the reserve artillery. 

The head of the Eleventh Corps reached Gettysburg about twelve 
o'clock. The first and third divisions passed through the town, moved 
out beyond the college, and joined the right of the First Corps. 
Howard sent three batteries and his second division, Steinwehr's, to take 
possession of the cemetery and the hill north of the Baltimore pike. 




MAP of the BATTLE 

OF 

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showily Fbsitiow held/ 
JULY (?T2?a3? 1863. 

1 Union Ilinef. 

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Scale of 1 Miles. 






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GETTYSBURG. 293 

Thus far success had attended the Union arms. A large number of 
prisoners had been taken with but little loss, and the troops were 
holding their own against a superior force. About half -past twelve 
cavalry scouts reported that Evvell was coming down the York road, 
and was not more than four miles distant. General Howard sent an 
aid to General Sickles, who was at Emmettsburg, requesting him to 
come on with all haste. Another was sent down the Baltimore pike 
to the Two Taverns, three miles distant, with a similar message to 
General Slocum. The Second Corps was there, — resting in the fields. 
They had heard the roar of the battle, and could see the clouds of 
smoke rising over the intervening hills. General Slocum was the senior 
officer. He received the message, but did not, for reasons best known 
to himself, see fit to accede to the request. He could have put the 
Twelfth Corps upon the ground in season to meet Ewell, but remained 
where he was till after the contest for the day was over. 

It was a quarter before three when Ewell's lines began to deploy by 
John Blocher's house on the York road. The batteries were wheeled 
into position, and opened on Wadsworth. Weiderick's battery in the 
cemetery replied. Again a messenger went in haste to the delinquent 
officer. 

" I sent again to General Slocum, stating that my right flank was 
attacked ; that it was in danger of being turned, and asking him if he 
was coming up," said General Howard. 

The message was delivered to Slocum, w T ho was still at the Two 
Taverns, where he had been through the day. Weiderick's battery was 
in plain view from that position, but General Slocum did not move. 

Sickles was too far off to render assistance. Meanwhile Ewell was 
pressing on towards the college. Another division under General 
Pender came in from the southwest, and began to enfold the left of 
Howard's line. 

" I want a brigade to help me ! " was the word from Schurz, com- 
manding the two divisions in front of Ewell, beyond the college. 

" Send out Costa's brigade," said Howard to his chief of staff. The 
brigade went down through the town accompanied by a battery, and 
joined the line, upon the double-quick. An hour passed of close, 
desperate fighting. It wanted a quarter to four. Howard, confronted 
by four times his own force, was still holding his ground, waiting for 
Slocum. Another messenger rode to the Two Taverns, urging Slocum 
to advance. 



294 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



" I must have reinforcements ! " was the message from Doubleday on 
the left. " You must reinforce me ! " was the word from Wadsworth 
in the centre. 

" Hold out a little longer, if possible ; I am expecting General 
Slocum every moment," was Howard's reply. Still another despatch 



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MAJOR-GENERAL CARL SCHURZ. 



was sent to the Two Taverns, but General Slocum had not moved. The 
rebel cannon were cutting Wadsworth's line. Pender was sweeping 
round Doubleday ; Ewell was enclosing Schurz. Sickles was five miles 
distant, advancing as fast as he could. Slocum was where he had been 
from early morning, three miles distant. The tide was turning. The 



GE'O'YttBURG. 295 

only alternative was a retreat. It was past four o'clock. For six hours 
the ground had been held against a greatly superior force. 

Major Howard, the general's brother, a member of his staff, dashed 
down the pike in search of Slocum, with a request that he would move 
at once, and send one division to the right and the other to the left of 
Gettysburg. Slocum declined to go up to the front and take any 
responsibility, as he understood that General Meade did not wish to 
bring on a general engagement. He was willing, however, to send 
forward his troops as General Howard desired, and issued his orders 
accordingly. Under military law the question might be raised whether 
a senior officer had a right to throw off the responsibility which 
circumstances had forced upon him ; also whether he could turn over 
his troops to a subordinate. 

But before the divisions of the Twelfth Corps could get in motion, 
the Confederates had completely enfolded both flanks of Howard's line. 
The order to retreat was given. The two corps came crowding through 
the town. The enemy pressed on with cheers. Most of the First Corps 
reached the cemetery ridge, and were rallied by Howard, Steinwehr, and 
Hancock. This officer had just arrived. The troops were streaming 
over the hill, when he reined up his steed in the cemetery. He came, 
under direction of General Meade, to take charge of all the troops in 
front. The Eleventh Corps was hard pressed, and lost between two and 
three thousand prisoners in the town. 

The Confederates of Ewell's command pushed up the northern slope, 
through the hay -fields, flushed with victory; but Weide rick's battery 
poured canister in quick discharges into the advancing ranks, breaking 
the line. 

The retreat was so orderly and the resistance so steady that the 
prisoners gave utterance to their admiration. Said General Hill : 

"A Yankee colour -bearer floated his standard in the field and the 
regiment fought around it; and when at last it was obliged to retreat, the 
colour - bearer retired last of all, turning round now and then to shake 
his fist in the face of the advancing troops." He was sorry when he saw 
him meet his doom. 

Three colour - bearers of the Nineteenth Indiana were shot. The 
Sergeant-Major, Asa Blanchard, ran and took the flag when the third 
man fell, waved it, and cried " Rally, boys ! " The next moment he fell. 
His comrades stopped to carry him off although the enemy was close at 
hand. 



296 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



" Don't stop for me," he cried. " Don't let them have the flag;. Tell 
mother I never faltered." They were his parting words to his comrades, 
who saved the iiau'. 




MAJOR-GENERAL WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

General Hancock met General Howard and informed him of his in- 
structions, saying, "General Meade undoubtedly supposed that I was 
your senior, but you outrank me." 



GETTYSBURG. 297 

" It is no time to talk about rank. I shall most cheerfully obey your 
instructions and do all in my power to cooperate with you," was 
Howard's reply, thus waiving the command which was his by right. 
They perfectly agreed in what was to be done. General Howard took 
charge of the troops and batteries on the right of the line, while General 
Hancock brought order out of confusion on the left. 

The Confederates having been repulsed by the batteries, and satisfied 
with the work of the day, made no further attack, although they greatly 
outnumbered the Union force. 

General Sickles arrived at seven o'clock, and General Slocum also 
came up. He being the senior officer, General Howard turned over the 
command to him, while General Hancock went back to see General 
Meade at Taneytown, to inform him of the state of affairs. The Third 
Corps filed into position on the left of the First, south of the cemetery, 
while the Twelfth took possession of Culp's Hill. 

So closed the first day at Gettysburg. 

General Meade arrived on the battle-field at three o'clock on the 
morning of the 2d, and had an interview with General Howard soon 
after by the cemetery gate. They rode along the lines together. 

" I am confident that we can hold this position," said General 
Howard. 

" 1 am glad to hear you say so, for it is too late to leave it," said 
Meade. 

While I was conversing with General Howard, his brother, Major 
Howard, came running up. " There is a splendid chance to cut them 
up, general ; just see them ! " 

A column of the enemy was moving along the Chambersburg road, 
and stood out in bold relief. 

" Let Osborn pitch in the shells from his rifled pieces," said the 
major. 

General Howard surveyed them a moment and replied : " We might 
do them some damage, but we are not quite ready to bring on a general 
engagement. It is n't best to hurry. We shall have enough fighting 
before night." 

The battle had not commenced in earnest. It was a favourable time 
to ride over the ground where the great contest was to take place. 

The first division, General Ames's, of the Eleventh Corps, was north 
of the Baltimore pike, the third division, Schurz's, was on both sides of 
it, and the second division, Steinwehr's, in the cemetery, lying behind 



298 THE BOYS OF '61. 

the stone wall, which forms its western boundary. The Eleventh Corps 
batteries were on the crest of the ridge, in position to fire over the heads 
of the infantry. Robinson's division of the First Corps was posted at 
the left of Steinwehr's, crossing the Taneytown road. Wadsworth's and 
Doubleday's divisions of the First were north of the Baltimore pike, to 
the right of General Ames, reaching to Culp's Hill, where they joined 
the Twelfth Corps. 

Riding down the road towards Taneytown, I came upon General Stan- 
nard's brigade of nine months Vermont boys, lying in the open field in 
rear of the cemetery. Occasionally a shell came over them from the 
rebel batteries, by Blocher's. It was their first experience under fire. 
They were in reserve, knowing nothing of what was going on the other 
side of the hill, yet tantalised by a flank fire from the distant batteries. 
A short distance farther I came to General Meade's headquarters, in the 
house of Mrs. Leister. General Meade was there surrounded by his 
staff, consulting maps and issuing orders. General Hancock's head- 
quarters' flag, — the trefoil of the Second Corps, — was waving on the 
ridge southwest of the house. General Slocum's, — the star-flag, — was 
in sight, on a conical hill a half-mile eastward. The crescent flag of 
the Eleventh was proudly planted on the highest elevation of the ceme- 
tery. The Maltese cross of the Fifth Corps was a half-mile south, 
toward Round-top. 

Turning into the field and riding to the top of the ridge, I came upon 
Hayes's division of the Second Corps, joining Robinson's of the First ; 
then Gibbon's and Caldwell's of the Second, reaching to a narrow road- 
way running west from the Taneytown road to the house of Abraham 
Trostle, where, a half-mile in advance of the main line, was planted the 
diamond flag of the Third Corps, General Sickles. Pushing directly 
west, through a field where the grass was ripening for the scythe, I 
approached the house of Mr. Codori, on the Emmettsburg road. But it 
was a dangerous place just then to a man on horseback, for the pickets 
of both armies were lying in the wheat-field west of the road. General 
Carr's brigade of the Third Corps was lying behind the ridge near 
the house of Peter Rogers. Soldiers were filling their canteens from the 
brook in the hollow. Further down, by the house of Mr. Wentz, at the 
corner of the narrow road leading east from the Emmettsburg road, and 
in the peach orchards on both sides of it, were troops and batteries. 
The Second New Hampshire, the first Maine, and the Third Michigan 
were there, holding the angle of the line, which here turned east from 



GETTYSBURG. 299 

the Emmettsburg road. Thompson's battery was behind Wentz's house. 
General Sickles had his other batteries in position along the narrow- 
road, the muzzles of the guns pointing southwest. Ames's New York 
battery was in the orchard, and the gunners were lying beneath the 
peach - trees, enjoying the leafy shade. Clark's New Jersey battery, 
Phillips's Fifth Massachusetts, and Bigelow's Ninth Massachusetts were 
on the left of Ames. Bigelow's was in front of Trostle's house, having 
complete command and the full sweep of a beautiful slope beyond the 
road for sixty rods. 

The slope descends to a wooded ravine through which winds a brook, 
gurgling over a rocky bed. Beyond the brook are the stone farm-house 
and capacious barn of John Rose, in whose door-yard were the Union 
pickets, exchanging a shot now and then with the pickets of Longstreet's 
corps, south of Rose's, who were lying along the Emmettsburg road. 

General Barnes's division of the Third Corps was in the woods south 
of the narrow road, and among the rocks in front of Weed's Hill. 

Sickles had advanced to the position upon his own judgment of the 
fitness of the movement. He believed that it was necessary to hold the 
ravine, down to Round-top, to prevent the enemy from passing through 
the gap between that eminence and Weed's Hill. 

General Meade had called his corps commanders to his headquarters 
for consultation. Sickles did not attend, deeming it of vital importance 
to prepare for the advance of the enemy, and his soldiers were levelling 
fences and removing obstructions. 

A peremptory order reached Sickles requiring his presence. He rode 
to the headquarters of the army, but the conference was over, and he 
went back to his command followed by General Meade. 

" Are you not too much extended ? Can you hold your front ? " 
asked the commander-in-chief. 

" Yes, only I shall want more troops." 

" I will send you the Fifth Corps, and you may call on Hancock for 
support." 

" I shall need more artillery." 

" Send for all you want. Call on General Hunt of the Artillery Re- 
serve. I will direct him to send you all you want." 

The pickets were keeping up a lively fire. 

" I think that the rebels will soon make their appearance," said 
Sickles. 

A moment later and the scattering fire became a volley. General 



300 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Meade took another look at the troops in position, and galloped back to 
his headquarters. 

General Lee, in his report, has given an outline of his intentions. He 
says : 

" It had not been intended to fight a general battle at such a distance 
from our base, unless attacked by the enemy ; but, finding ourselves 
unexpectedly confronted by the Federal army, it became a matter of 
difficulty to withdraw through the mountains with our large trains. At 
the same time the country was unfavourable for collecting supplies while 
in the presence of the enemy's main body, as he was enabled to restrain 
our foraging parties by occupying the passes of the mountains with 
regular and local troops. A battle thus became, in a measure, unavoid- 
able. Encouraged by the successful issue of the engagement of the 
first day, and in view of the valuable results that would ensue from the 
defeat of the army of General Meade, it was thought advisable to renew 
the attack. 

" The remainder of Ewell's and Hill's corps having arrived, and two 
divisions of Longstreet's, our preparations were made accordingly. 
During the afternoon intelligence was received of the arrival of General 
Stuart at Carlisle, and he was ordered to march to Gettysburg. 

" The preparations for attack were not completed until the afternoon 
of the 2d. 

" The enemy held a high and commanding ridge, along which he had 
massed a large amount of artillery. General Ewell occupied the left 
of our line, General Hill the centre, and General Longstreet the right. 
In front of General Longstreet the enemy held a position from which, 
if he could be driven, it was thought that our army could be used to 
advantage in assailing the more elevated ground beyond, and thus 
enable us to reach the crest of the ridge. That officer was directed to 
endeavour to carry this position, while General Ewell attacked directly 
the high ground on the enemy's right, which had already been partially 
fortified. General Hill was instructed to threaten the centre of the 
Federal line, in order to prevent reinforcements being sent to either 
wing, and to avail himself of any opportunity that might present itself 
to attack." 

Lee had been all day perfecting his plans. He was riding along his 
lines at sunrise, reconnoitring Meade's position. His headquarters 
were near the Theological Seminary, where, at five o'clock in the morn- 
ing, Lee, Hill, Longstreet, Hood, and Heth were engaged in conversa- 



GETTYSBURG. 



301 



tion. The conference lasted till seven o'clock, when Longstreet rode 
down to his corps to make arrangements for the attack. Hood had the 
extreme right, and McLaws stood next in line. Pickett, commanding 
his other division, had not arrived. It was to be held in reserve. 

Lee chose, as his first point of attack, the position occupied by 
Sickles. The ground by Wentz's house is higher than the ridge, where 
Hancock had established his headquarters. If he could drive Sickles 
from the peach-orchard by turn- 
ing his left flank, and gain Little 
Round Top, Meade would be 
compelled to retreat, and the 
nature of the ground was such 
in rear of the cemetery that a 
retreat might be turned into a 
complete rout. Meade's position 
was a very fair one for defence, 
but one from which an army 
could not well retire before a 
victorious enemy. 

General Meade would have 
chosen a position fifteen or 
twenty miles in rear, nearer to 
his base of supplies, and had he 
been at Gettysburg on Wednes- 
day evening, doubtless would 
have ordered a retreat. The 
question, whether to fall back 
or to hold the position, was seriously debated. But Howard had 
made the stand. He believed that the position could be held, and 
Lee defeated there. He did not calculate for defeat but for victory. 
Had Meade fallen back, Lee would have been wary of moving on. It 
was not his intention, he says, to fight a general battle so far 
from his base. He would have followed cautiously, if at all. Through 
the foresight, faith, and courage of Howard, therefore, Gettysburg- 
has become a turning-point in history. And yet, not that alone, for 
the warp and woof of history are made up of innumerable threads. 
The Confederates, on that afternoon of Thursday, as they moved out 
from the woods into the fields south of the house of John Rose, 
had a thorough contempt for the troops in blue, standing beneath 




LIEUT. -GEN. JAMES LONGSTREET, C. S. A. 



302 THE BOYS OF '61. 

the peach-trees in Sherfy's orchard, and along the road towards 
Trostle's. They had already achieved one victory on the soil of 
Pennsylvania. Five thousand Yankees had been captured. The troops 
of the Confederacy were invincible, not only while fighting at their own 
doors, but as invaders of the North. Such was the feeling of the 
soldiers. But the officers were not quite so sanguine of success as the 
men. Lieutenant-Colonel Freemantle, who saw the fight from the Con- 
federate side, says : 

"At 4.30 p. m. (Wednesday) we came in sight of Gettysburg, and 
joined General Lee and General Hill, who were on the top of one of 
the ridges which form the peculiar feature of the country round Gettys- 
burg. We could see the enemy retreating up one of the opposite ridges, 
pursued by the Confederates with loud yells. 

" The position into which the enemy had been driven was evidently a 
strong one. General Hill now came up, and told me he had been very 
unwell all day, and in fact he looks very delicate. He said he had two 
of his divisions engaged, and had driven the enemy four miles into his 
present position, capturing a great many prisoners, some cannon, and 
some colours ; he said, however, that the Yankees had fought with 
a determination unusual to them." 

General Hill and General Lee had been observant of the "determina- 
tion unusual to the Yankees," who had left a third of their comrades dead 
or wounded on the field, or as prisoners in the hands of the enemy. 
But the Confederate rank and file, remembering only the victories they 
had already won, did not for a moment doubt their ability to win 
another. They were flushed with the enthusiasm of repeated successes. 

On the other hand, the soldiers of the Union believed, with Howard, 
Hancock, Sickles, and other officers, that they could hold the position 
against the assaults of Lee. It was not a calculation of advantages, — 
of the value of hills, ravines, fields, and meadows, — or of numbers, but 
a determination to win the day or to die on the spot. 

Such were the feelings of the opposing parties on that sunny 
afternoon, as they appeared in line of battle. 

The rebel forces moving to the attack south of Wentz's were wholly 
under Longstreet's command. Anderson's division of Hill's Corps was 
joined to McLaw's and Hood's, to form the attacking column. The Wash- 
ington Artillery of New Orleans was in the woods southwest of Wentz's 
house. Longstreet's plan was to attack with all the vigour possible, — to 
bear down all opposition in the outset. Commanders frequently begin an 



GETTYSBURG. 303 

engagement by feeling of the enemy's position, — advancing a few skir- 
mishers, a regiment, or a brigade ; but in this instance Longstreet 
advanced all but his reserve. 

It was half -past three. Rising rapidly to the right to see if there 
were signs of activity in that direction, dismounting in rear of the line, 
and tying my horse to a tree, I took a look northward. A mile to the 
north horsemen were in view, galloping furiously over the fields, disap- 
pearing in groves, dashing down the road to the town, and again return- 
ing. There was a battery in position beyond the railroad, and as I 
looked narrowly at an opening between two groves, I saw the glistening 
of bayonets, and a line as if a column of men were marching east 
toward the thick forest on Rock Creek. It was surmised that they were 
to attack our right upon Culp's Hill by advancing directly down Rock 
Creek through the woods. Prisoners captured said that Ewell had 
sworn a terrible oath to turn our flank, if it took his last man. To 
guard against such a movement, Slocum was throwing up breastworks 
from the crest of the hill down to Rock Creek. Two batteries were 
placed in position on hillocks south of the turnpike, to throw shells up 
the creek, should such an attempt be made. The Union cavalry in long 
lines was east of the creek, and the Reserve artillery, in parks, with 
horses harnessed, was in the open field, south of Slocum's head- 
quarters. 

" As near as I can make out, the rebels have got a line of batteries in 
that piece of woods," said an officer who had been looking steadily 
across the ravine to Blocher's Hill. Laying my glass upon the breast- 
work, I could see the guns and the artillerymen beside their pieces, as if 
ready to begin the action. 

Suddenly there came the roar of a gun from the south. It was 
Longstreet's signal. 

I was at the moment near the cemetery. There came a storm of 
shot and shell. Marble slabs were broken, iron fences shattered, horses 
disembowelled. The air was full of wild, hideous noises, — the low 
buzz of round shot, the whizzing of elongated bolts, and the stunning 
explosions of shells, overhead and all around. 

There was a quick response from the Union batteries. In three min- 
utes the earth shook with the tremendous concussion of two hundred 
pieces of artillery. 

The missiles came from the northeast, north, northwest, west, and 
southwest. The position occupied by the Vermont nine months men 



304 THE BOYS OF '61. 

was one of great exposure, as the ground in rear of the cemetery was 
the centre of a converging fire. 

" Lie close," said General Stannard to the men. They obeyed him, 
but he walked to the top of the ridge and watched the coming on of the 
storm in the southwest. 

The Fifth Corps had not moved into position, but was resting after the 
sixteen miles' march from Hanover. 

The troops of Longstreet's command first in sight came out from the 
woods behind Warfield's house, a long line in the form of a crescent, 
reaching almost to Round-top. Ames's battery was the first to open 
upon them. Thompson, Clark, and Phillips began to thunder almost 
simultaneously. Bigelow, from his position, could not get a sight at 
them till two or three minutes later. The Third Michigan, Second New 
Hampshire, and Third Maine were the first regiments engaged. The fire 
ran down the line towards Rose's house. The regiments in the woods 
along the ravine south of the house, — the Seventeenth Maine, Third 
Michigan, and others, — were soon in the fight. Sickles's front line, 
after an obstinate struggle, was forced back. He was obliged to with- 
draw his batteries by Wentz's house. Bigelow retired, firing by pro- 
logue, over the rocky ground. The contest in the peach - orchard and 
around Rose's house was exceedingly bloody. Sickles sent his aid for 
reinforcements : " I want batteries and men ! " said he. 

" I want you to hold on where you are until I can get a line of bat- 
teries in rear of you," said Colonel McGilvery, commanding the artillery 
of the Third Corps, to Bigelow. " Give them canister ! " he added, as 
he rode away. Bigelow's men never had been under fire, but they held 
on till every charge of canister was spent, and then commenced on 
spherical case. Bigelow was just west of Trostle's barn. A rebel 
battery hastened up and unlimbered in the field. He opened with all 
his guns, and they limbered up again. McGilvery's batteries were not 
in position, and the gallant captain and his brave men would not leave. 
The enemy rushed upon the guns, and were blown from the muzzles. 
Others came with demoniac yells, climbing upon the limbers and shoot- 
ing horses. Sergeant Dodge went down, killed instantly ; also Sergeant 
Gilson. Lipman, Ferris, and Nutting, three of the cannoneers, were 
gone, twenty-two of the men wounded, and Bigelow shot through the 
side ; also four men missing, yet they held on till McGilvery had his 
batteries in position! 

It was a heroic resistance. Gun after gun was abandoned to the 



GETTYSBURG. 



305 



advancing Confederates. But the cannoneers were thoughtful to 
retain the rammers, and though the enemy seized the pieces they 
could not turn them upon the slowly retreating handful of men, who 
with two pieces still growled defiance. Back to Trostle's door-yard, 
into the garden, halting by the barn, delivering a steady fire, they held 
the enemy at bay till the batteries of the Fifth Corps, a little east of 
Trostle's, and the arrival of reinforcements of infantry, permitted their 
withdrawal. More than sixty horses belonging to this one battery were 




BATTERY WAITING FOR ORDERS. 



killed in this brief struggle at the commencement of the battle. With 
the seizure of each piece the Confederates cheered, and advanced with 
confident expectation of driving Sickles over the ridge. 

It was my privilege to see this terrible struggle from Little Round 
Top, whither I hastened soon after the beginning of the battle. I rode 
nearly to the summit, tied my horse to a tree, and climbed over the 
bowlders to the position occupied by the signal officer and his assistant, 
the only individuals present at the time of my arrival. I saw Barnes's 
division of the Fifth Corps go down past Trostle's house and pour its 
volleys into the Confederate ranks. 

Ayer's division of Regulars, which had been lying east of the ridge, 
moved upon the double-quick through the woods, up to the summit. 



306 THE BOYS OF '61. 

The whole scene was before them : the turmoil and commotion in the 
woods below, — Barnes going in, and the shattered regiments of the 
Third Corps coming out. Some batteries were in retreat and othe.-s 
were taking new positions. They dashed down the hillside, became i 
little disorganised in crossing Plum Run, but formed again and went up 
the ridge among the bowlders, disappeared in the woods, stayed a few 
minutes, and then, like a shattered wreck upon the foaming sea, came 
drifting to the rear. 

After the battle, an officer of the Seventeenth Regulars pointed out to 
me the line of advance. 

" We went down the hill upon the run," said he. " It was like going 
down into hell ! The rebels were yelling like devils. Our men were 
falling back. It was terrible confusion; smoke, dust, the rattle of 
musketry, the roaring of cannon, the bursting of shells." 

Sickles called upon Hancock for help. Caldwell's division went down, 
sweeping past Trostle's into the wheat-field, dashing through Barnes's 
men, who were falling back. Regiments from three corps and from 
eight or ten brigades were fighting promiscuously. The enemy's lines 
were also in confusion, — advancing, retreating, gaining, and losing. 

It was like the writhing of two wrestlers. Seventy thousand men 
were contending for the mastery on a territory scarcely a mile square ! 

General A. P. Martin, commanding the Fifth Corps Artillery, seeing 
the value of Little Round Top, despatched Hazlitt's battery to hold it. 
The guns were dragged as far as possible by the horses, and then the 
guns were lifted by the men into position. General Warren of the 
Engineer Corps also saw the need of holding the hill, and, on his own 
authority, directed Vincent's brigade to take possession of it. The arrival 
of the battery was none too soon, for at the moment, the Confederates, 
having driven the Union troops from the rocky ridge, now known as the 
Devil's Den, were climbing Little Round Top. 

The Twentieth Maine, Colonel Chamberlain, was on the extreme left. 
The Eighty-third Pennsylvania, Forty-fourth New York, and Sixteenth 
Michigan were farther north. The Twentieth Maine stood almost alone. 
There began to be a dropping of bullets along the line from the skir- 
mishers creeping into the gap, and Colonel Chamberlain saw the enemy 
moving past his flank. He immediately extended his own left flank, 
by forming his men in single rank. The fight was fierce. The rebels 
greatly outnumbered Chamberlain, but he had the advantage of position. 
He was on the crest of the hill, and at every lull in the strife his men 



GETTYSBURG. 307 

piled the loose stones into a rude breastwork. He sent for assistance, 
but before the arrival of reinforcements Hood's troops had gained the 
eastern side of the hill, and the Twentieth Maine stood in the form of 
the letter U, with rebels in front, on their flank, and in rear. 

It was nearly six o'clock. I was at Meade's headquarters. • The roar 
of battle was louder and grew nearer. 

" We want reinforcements, they are flanking us," said an officer, riding 
up to Meade. Word was sent to Slocum, and Williams's division of 
the Twelfth left their breastwork on Culp's Hill, came down upon the 
double-quick, leaping the stone walls between Slocum's headquarters and 
the cemetery, and moved into the field west of the Taneytown road. 

Stannard's brigade was attached to the First Corps, commanded by 
Doubleday. The Vermont boys had been lying on their faces through 
the long, tormenting hours. They were ready for desperate work. 

The men of Vermont sprang to their feet, and went up the ridge 
toward the southwest upon the run. 

It was a critical moment, Hancock had ordered in all his troops, with 
the exception of the First Minnesota Regiment, which was supporting a 
battery. Pointing to the advancing Confederates, Hancock shouted to 
Colonel Coville : 

" Advance and take that flag ! " 

There were two hundred and fifty-two men in the regiment. The 
regiment advanced as if upon parade. At every step men fell. Five 
colour - bearers, one after another, went down. On they moved, till 
within fifty yards of the enemy. 

" Charge ! " shouted their commander. They rushed upon the Con- 
federate line, pouring in their volley, sending them fleeing to the rear. 

During the ten minutes two hundred and five were either killed or 
wounded. At roll-call all were accounted for, not a man was missing. 

Colonel Randall, with five companies of the Thirteenth Vermont, led 
the advance of General Stannard's column. Hancock had been forced 
to leave the guns of one of his batteries on the field near Codori's house. 

The Confederate sharpshooters were lying along the Emmettsburg 
road, pouring in a deadly fire, under cover of which a large force was 
advancing to take possession of the pieces. 

" Can you retake that battery ? " was Hancock's question to Randall. 

" We '11 do it or die, sir ! " 

" Then go in." 

" Forward ! " said Randall, turning in his saddle and waving his 



308 THE BOYS OF '61. 

sword. His men gave a cheer, and broke into a run. The colonel's 
horse fell, shot through the shoulder, but the colonel dashed ahead on 
foot. They reached the guns, drew them to the rear. The Confederates 
came on with a rush. But help was at hand, — the Fourteenth Maine 
joined the Vermonters. Leaving the guns the soldiers faced about, cap- 
tured eighty-three prisoners, and two cannon, and then returned! Long 
and loud were the cheers that greeted them. 

" You must be green, or you would n't have gone down there," said a 
Pennsylvanian, who had been in a dozen battles. The blood of the Ver- 
mont boys was up, and they had not calculated the consequences of such 
a movement. 

So closed the day on the left. But just as the contest was coming 
to an end, it suddenly commenced on the north side of the cemetery. 
Hayes's brigade of Louisiana Tigers, and Hoke's North Carolinians, 
belonging to Early's division of Ewell's corps, had been creeping across 
Spangler's farm, up the northern slope of the cemetery hill. Suddenly, 
with a shout, they sprang upon Barlow's division, commanded by Ames. 
It was a short, fierce, but decisive contest. The attack was sudden, 
but the men of Ames's command were fully prepared. There was a 
struggle over the guns of two Pennsylvania batteries. The Fifth Maine 
battery was in an exceedingly favourable position, at an angle of the 
earthworks east of the hill, and cut down the enemy with a destructive 
enfilading fire. The struggle lasted scarcely five minutes, — the 
Confederates retreating in confusion to the town. 

When Slocum went with Williams to the left there were no 
indications of an attack on Culp's Hill, but unexpectedly Ewell made 
his appearance in the woods along Rock Creek. General Green, who 
had been left in command, extended his line east and made a gallant 
fight, but not having men enough to occupy all the ground, Ewell was 
able to take possession of the hollow along the Creek. When Williams 
returned, he found his entrenchments in possession of the enemy. The 
men of the Twelfth threw themselves on the ground in the fields on 
both sides of the Baltimore pike, for rest till daybreak. 

" We are doing well," was Longstreet's report to Lee, at seven o'clock 
in the evening, from the left. Ewell himself rode down through the 
town, to report his success on the right. 

At a late hour Longstreet reported that he had carried everything 
before him for some time, capturing several batteries, and driving the 
Yankees ; but when Hill's Florida brigade and some other troops gave 



GETTYSBURG. 309 

way, he was forced to abandon a small portion of the ground he had 
won, together with all the captured guns except three. 

It was late in the evening when I threw myself upon a pile of straw 
in an old farmhouse, near the Baltimore pike, for a few hours' rest, 
expecting that with the early morning there would be a renewal of 
the battle. 

There was the constant rumble of artillery moving into position, of 
ammunition and supply wagons going up to the troops. Lights were 
gleaming in the hollows, beneath the shade of oaks and pines, where 
the surgeons were at work, and where, through the dreary hours, 
wailings and moanings rent the air ; yet, though within musket-shot of 
the enemy, and surrounded with dying and dead, I found refreshing 
sleep. 

Friday, July 3d, dawned ; the cannonade broke the stillness of the 
morning, and drowned all other sounds. Riding up the turnpike to the 
batteries, I had a good view of the battle-ground. General Sickles was 
being carried to the rear on a stretcher. He had suffered amputation. 
Following him was a large number of prisoners, taken in the fight upon 
the left. Some were haggard and careworn, — others indifferent, or 
sulky, and some very jolly. " I have got into the Union after hard 
fighting," said one, " and I intend to stay there." 

There were a few musket-shots in the woods upon the hill, from the 
pickets in advance. Slocum was preparing to regain what had been 
lost. It was seven o'clock before he was ready to move. The men 
moved slowly, but determinedly. The Confederates were in the rifle- 
pits, and opened a furious fire. A thin veil of smoke rose above the 
trees, and floated away before the morning breeze. Ewell was deter- 
mined not to be driven back. He held on with dogged pertinacity. He 
had sworn profanely to hold the position, but in vain his effort. The 
rifle-pits were regained, and he was driven, inch by inch, up Rock 
Creek. 

It took four hours to do it, however. Ewell, well knowing the 
importance of holding the position, brought in all of his available 
force. Johnson's, Rodes's, and Early's divisions, all were engaged. 
To meet these, General Shaler's brigade of the Sixth Corps was brought 
up to Culp's Hill, while Neil's brigade of the same corps was thrown 
in upon Early's flank east of Rock Creek, and the work was accom- 
plished. The men fought from behind trees and rocks, with great 
tenacity. It was the last attempt of Lee upon Meade's right. 



310 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



Gregg's and Kilpatrick's divisions of cavalry were east of Rock 
Creek. An orderly came dashing down the Hanover road. 

" Stuart is coming round on our right ! " said he. " General 
Pleasanton sends his compliments to General Gregg, desiring him to 
go out immediately and hold Stuart in check. His compliments also 
to General Kilpatrick, desiring him to go down beyond Round -top, 
and pitch in with all his might on Longstreet's left." 




BREVET MAJOR- GENERAL HENRY J. HUNT. 
COMMANDING THE UNION ARTILLERY AT GETTYSBURG. 

I was conversing with the two officers at the time. 

" Good ! come on, boys ! " shouted Kilpatrick, rubbing his hands with 
pleasure. The notes of the bugle rang loud and clear above the rumble 
of the passing army wagons, and Kilpatrick's column swept down the 
hill, crossed the creek, and disappeared beyond Round-top. A half-hour 
later I saw the smoke of his artillery, and heard the wild shout of his 
men as they dashed recklessly upon the enemy's lines. It was the 



GETTYSBURG. 



311 



charge in which General Farnsworth and a score of gallant officers gave 
up their lives. 

General Gregg's division formed in the fields east of Wolf Hill. 
Stuart had already extended his line along the Bonnoughtown road. 
There was a brisk cannonade between the light batteries, and Stuart 
retired, without attempting to cut out the ammunition trains parked 
along the pike. 




MAJOR-GENERAL GEO. E. PICKETT, C. S. A. 

Through the forenoon it was evident that Lee was preparing for 
another attack. He had reconnoitred the ground with Longstreet in 
the morning, and decided to assault Meade's line between the cemetery 
and Round -top with a strong force. He could form the attacking 
column out of sight, in the woods west of Codori's house. In advancing, 
the troops would be sheltered till they reached the Emmettsburg road. 
Howard's guns in the cemetery would trouble them most by enfilading 
the lines. Howard must be silenced by a concentrated artillery fire. 



312 THE BOYS OF '61. 

The cemetery could be seen from every part of the line occupied by the 
rebels, and all the available batteries were brought into position to play 
upon it, and upon the position occupied by the Second Corps. 

The arrangements were entrusted to Longstreet. He selected Pick- 
ett's, Pender's, Heth's, and Anderson's divisions. Pickett's were fresh 
troops. Heth had been wounded, and Pettigrew was in command of 
the division. Wilcox's and Perry's brigades of Anderson's division had 
the right of the first rebel line. Pickett's division occupied the centre 
of the first line, followed by Pender's. Heth's division, followed by 
Wright's brigade of Anderson's, had the left of the line. 

Wilcox's and Perry's line of advance was past Klingel's house. Pick- 
ett's right swept across the Emmettsburg road by the house of Peter 
Eogers ; his left reached to Codori's, where it joined Pettigrew's. 
Eodes's division of E well's corps was brought down from the woods by 
Smucker's house, and put in position south of the town, to support 
Pettigrew's left. The attacking force numbered from fifteen to eighteen 
thousand men. 

Commencing at the Taneytown road and walking south, we have the 
following disposition of the troops resisting this attack : Robinson's 
division of the First Corps, reaching from the road along an oak grove, 
past a small house occupied by a coloured man. Hayes's division lay 
behind a stone wall, and a small grove of shrub-oaks. Gibbon had no 
protection except a few rails gathered from the fences. There are three 
oak-trees which mark the spot occupied by Hall's brigade. Harrow's 
was just beyond it, south. In front of Harrow's, six or eight rods, were 
three regiments of Stannard's Vermont brigade, — the Thirteenth, Four- 
teenth, and Sixteenth, — lying in a shallow trench. Caldwell's division 
extended from Gibbon's to the narrow road leading past Trostle's house. 
The ridge in rear of the troops bristled with artillery. The infantry 
line was thin, but the artillery was compact and powerful. 

Visiting General Meade's headquarters in the house of Mrs. Leister, 
in the forenoon, I saw the commander-in-chief seated at a table, with a 
map of Gettysburg spread out before him. General Warren, chief en- 
gineer, was by his side. General Williams, his adjutant -general, who 
knew the strength of every regiment, was sitting on the bed, ready to 
answer any question. General Hunt, chief of artillery, was lying on the 
grass beneath a peach-tree in the yard. General Pleasanton, chief of 
the cavalry, neat and trim in dress and person, with a riding -whip 
tucked into his cavalry boots, was walking uneasily about. Aids were 



GETTYSBUKG. 313 

coming and going ; a signal-officer in the yard was waving his flags in 
response to one on Round-top. 

" Signal-officer on Round-top reports rebels moving towards our left," 
said the officer to General Meade. 

It was five minutes past one when the signal-gun for the opening of 
the battle was given by the artillery on Seminary Hill. Instantly the 
whole line of batteries, a hundred and fifty guns, joined in the cannon- 
ade. All of the guns northeast, north, and northwest of the town 
concentrated their fire upon the cemetery. Those west and southwest 
opened on Hancock's position. Solid shot and shells poured incessantly 
upon the cemetery and along the ridge. The intention of Lee was soon 
understood, — to silence the batteries and demoralise the men supporting 
them. That accomplished he would hurl Pickett's division like a thun- 
derbolt up Meade's left centre, break the line and win the victory. 

For one hour and five minutes by my watch the cannonade continued, 
— more than two hundred and fifty pieces of artillery belching their 
thunders. Language fails to picture the scene. At times sixty shells 
a minute were bursting above the Union lines. Suddenly, acting from 
orders issued by General Hunt, chief of artillery, the Union batteries 
ceased firing. 

" We will let them think they have silenced us," he said. 

It was half -past two o'clock when I heard the shout, " There they 
come ! " 

Westward, over the green fields, could be seen Pickett's men emerging 
from the woods. The batteries in the cemetery and on Little Round Top 
burst into flames. Those along the cemetery ridge were still silent. The 
Confederates reach the Emmettsburg road, and then they send a storm of 
shells into the advancing ranks. Pickett turns to the right, moving 
north, driven in part by the fire rolling in upon his flank from the 
Third, Fifth, and Sixth Corps batteries. Suddenly he faces east, 
descends the gentle slope from the road behind Codori's, crosses the 
meadow, comes in reach of the muskets of the Vermonters. The three 
regiments rise from their shallow trench. The men beneath the oak- 
trees leap from their low breastwork of rails. There is a ripple, a roll, 
a deafening roar. The advancing line is almost up to the grove in front 
of Robinson's. It has reached the clump of shrub-oaks. It has drifted 
past the Vermont boys. " Break their third line ! Smash their sup- 
ports ! " cries General Howard, and Osborne and Wainwright send the fire 
of fifty guns into the column. 



314 THE BOYS OF '61. 

The front line is melting away, — the second is advancing to take its 
place ; but beyond the first and second is the third, which reels, breaks, 
and flies to the woods from whence it came, unable to withstand the 
storm. 

Hancock is wounded, and Gibbon is in command of the Second Corps. 
" Hold your fire, boys ; they are not near enough yet," says Gibbon, as 
Pickett comes on. The first volley staggers, but does not stop them. 
They move upon the run, — up to the breastwork of rails, — bearing 
Hancock's line to the top of the ridge, — so powerful their momentum. 

Men fire into each other's faces, not five feet apart. There are bay- 
onet-thrusts, sabre-strokes, pistol-shots ; cool, deliberate movements on 
the part of some, — hot, passionate, desperate efforts with others ; hand- 
to-hand contests ; recklessness of life ; tenacity of purpose ; fiery deter- 
mination ; oaths, yells, curses, hurrahs, shoutings ; men going down on 
their hands and knees, spinning round like tops, throwing out their arms, 
gulping up blood, falling, legless, armless, headless. There are ghastly 
heaps of dead men. Seconds are centuries ; minutes, ages ; but the thin 
line does not break ! 

The Confederates have swept past the Vermont regiments. " Take 
them in flank," says General Stannard. 

The Thirteenth and Sixteenth swing out from the trench, turn a right 
angle to the main line, and face the north. They move forward a few 
steps, pour a deadly volley into the backs of Kemper's troops. With a 
hurrah they rush on, to drive home the bayonet. The Fifteenth, Nine- 
teenth, Twentieth Massachusetts, and Seventh Michigan, Twentieth New 
York, Nineteenth Maine, One Hundred Fifty -first Pennsylvania, and 
other regiments catch the enthusiasm of the moment, and close upon the 
foe. 

The advancing column has lost its power. The lines waver. The 
soldiers of the front rank look round for their supports. They are gone, 
— fleeing over the field, broken, shattered, thrown into confusion by the 
remorseless fire from the cemetery and from the cannon on the ridge. 
The lines have disappeared like a straw in a candle's flame. The ground 
is thick with dead, and the wounded are like the withered leaves of 
autumn. Thousands of rebels throw down their arms and give them- 
selves up as prisoners. 

It is the high -water mark of the Rebellion, — a turning-point of 
history and of human destiny ! 

Treason had wielded its mightiest blow. From that time the Rebel- 



i! 1 



GETTYSBURG. 317 

lion began to wane. An account of the battle, written on the following 
day, and published on the 6th of July in the Boston Journal, contains 
the following passage : 

" The invasion of the North was over, — the power of the Southern 
Confederacy broken. There at that sunset hour I could discern the 
future ; no longer an overcast sky, but the clear, unclouded starlight, — 
a country redeemed, saved, baptised, consecrated anew to the coming 
ages. 

" All honour to the heroic living, all glory to the gallant dead ! They 
have not fought in vain, they have not died for naught. No man liveth 
to himself alone. Not for themselves but for their children ; for those 
who may never hear of them in their nameless graves, how they yielded 
life ; for the future ; for all that is good, pure, holy, just, true ; for 
humanity, righteousness, peace ; for Paradise on earth ; for Christ and 
for God, they have given themselves a willing sacrifice. Blessed be 
their memory forevermore ! " 

I rode along the lines, and beheld the field by the light of the gleam- 
ing stars. The dead were everywhere thickly strewn. How changed 
the cemetery ! Three days before, its gravelled walks were smooth and 
clean ; flowers were in bloom ; birds carolled their songs amid the trees ; 
the monuments were undefaced ; the marble slabs pure and white. Now 
there were broken wheels and splintered caissons ; dead horses, shot in 
the neck, in the head, through the body, disembowelled by exploding 
shells, legs broken, flesh mangled and torn ; pools of blood, scarlet stains 
on the headstones, green grass changed to crimson ; marble slabs shiv- 
ered ; the ground ploughed by solid shot, holes blown out by bursting 
shells ; dead men lying where they had fallen, wounded men creeping to 
the rear ; cries and groans all around me ! Fifty shells a minute had 
fallen upon that small enclosure. Not for a moment was there thought 
of abandoning the position. How those batteries of Osborne and Wain- 
wright, of the Eleventh and First Corps, had lightened and thundered ! 
There were scores of dead by the small house where the left of the rebel 
line advanced, lying just as they were smitten down, as if a thunderbolt 
had fallen upon the once living mass ! 

An English officer, who saw the battle from the rebel lines, thus says 
of the repulse : 

" I soon began to meet many wounded men returning from the front ; 
many of them asked in piteous tones the way to a doctor, or an ambu- 
lance. The further I got the greater became the number of the 



318 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



wounded. At last I came to a perfect stream of them flocking through 
the woods in numbers as great as the crowd in Oxford Street in the 
middle of the day. . . . They were still under a heavy fire ; the shells 




UP TO THE MUZZLES OF THE GUNS. 



were continually bringing down great limbs of trees, and carrying 
further destruction amongst their melancholy procession. I saw all this 
in much less time than it takes to write it, and although astonished to 
meet such a vast number of wounded, I had not seen enough to give me 
an idea of the real extent of the mischief. 

" When I got close up to General Longstreet, I saw one of his regi- 
ments advancing through the woods in good order ; so, thinking I was 



GETTYSBURG. 319 

just in time to see the attack, I remarked to the general that ' I 
would n't have missed this for anything.' Longstreet was seated on the 
top of a snake -fence, in the edge of the wood, and looking perfectly 
calm and unperturbed. He replied, ' The devil you would n't ! I would 
like to have missed it very much ; we 've attacked and been repulsed. 
Look there ! ' 

" For the first time I then had a view of the open space between the 
two positions, and saw it covered with Confederates slowly and sulkily 
returning towards us in small broken parties. . . . 

" I remember seeing a general (Pettigrew, I think it was) come up to 
him and report that he was unable to bring his men up again. Long- 
street turned upon him, and replied with some sarcasm : ' Very well, — 
never mind, then, general ; just let them remain where they are. The 
enemy is going to advance, and will spare you the trouble.' . . . 

" Soon afterward I joined General Lee, who had in the meanwhile 
come to the front, on becoming aware of the disaster. He was engaged 
in rallying and in encouraging the troops, and was riding about a little 
in front of the woods, quite alone, the whole of his staff being engaged 
in a similar manner further in the rear. His face, which is always 
placid and cheerful, did not show signs of the slightest disappointment, 
care, or annoyance ; and he was addressing to every soldier he met a 
few words of encouragement, such as, ' All this will come right in the 
end ; we will talk it over afterwards, — but in the meantime all good 
men must rally. We want all good men and true men just now,' etc. 
. . . He said to me, < This has been a sad day for us, colonel — 
a sad day ; but we can't expect always to gain victories.' ... I saw 
General Wilcox (an officer who wears a short round jacket and a 
battered straw hat) come up to him, and explain, almost crying, the 
state of his brigade. General Lee immediately shook hands with him, 
and said, cheerfully, ' Never mind, general. All this has been my fault, 
— it is I that have lost this fight, and you must help me out of it the 
best way you can.' " 

It was past eleven o'clock in the evening when I rode up from the 
gory field, over the ridge, where the Second Corps had stood like a wall 
of adamant. Meade's headquarters were in a grove, east of the small 
house where he established himself at the beginning of the battle. The 
fire had been too hot at Mrs. Leister's. Meade was sitting on a great 
flat bowlder, listening to the reports of his officers, brought in by 
couriers. It was a scene which lives in memory ; a dark forest, the 



320 THE BOYS OF '61. 

evening breeze gently rustling the green leaves over our heads, the 
katydids and locusts singing cheerily, the bivouac fires glimmering on 
the ground, revealing the surrounding objects, the gnarled trees, torn 
by cannon-shot, the mossy stones, the group of officers, Williams, 
Warren, Howard (his right sleeve wanting an arm), Pleasanton, as 
trim as in the morning ; Meade, stooping, weary, his slouched hat laid 
aside, so that the breeze might fan his brow. 

" Bully ! bully ! bully all round ! " said he ; and then, turning to his 
chief of staff, Humphrey, said, " Order up rations and ammunition." 

To General Hunt, chief of artillery, " Have your limbers filled. Lee 
may be up to something in the morning, and we must be ready for 
him." 

A band came up and played " Hail to the Chief ! " the " Star-spangled 
Banner," and "Yankee Doodle." Soul-stirring the strains. The soldiers, 
lying on their arms, where they had fought, heard it, and responded 
with a cheer. Not all ; for thousands were deaf and inanimate ever- 
more. 

No accurate statement of the number engaged in this great, decisive 
battle of the war can ever be given. Meade's march to Gettysburg was 
made with great rapidity. The provost-marshal of the army, General 
Patrick, committed the great error of having no rear-guard to bring up 
the stragglers, which were left behind in thousands, and who found it 
much more convenient to live on the excellent fare furnished by the 
farmers than to face the enemy. Meade's entire force on the field 
numbered probably from sixty to seventy thousand. The Confederate 
army had made slower marches, and the soldiers could not straggle ; 
they were in an enemy's country. Lee, therefore, had fuller ranks than 
Meade. 

The people of the North expressed their gratitude to the heroes who 
had won this battle, by pouring out their contributions for the relief of 
the wounded. The agents of the Christian and Sanitary Commissions 
were quickly on the ground, and hundreds of warm-hearted men and 
women hastened to the spot to render aid. The morning after the 
battle I saw a stout Pennsylvania farmer driving his two-horse farm 
wagon up the Baltimore pike, loaded down with loaves of soft bread 
which his wife and daughters had baked. 

Tender and affecting are some of the incidents of the battle-field. A 
delegate of the Christian Commission, passing among the wounded, 
came to an officer from South Carolina. 



GETTYSBURG. 321 

" Can I do anything for you ? " he asked. 

" No ! " was the surly reply. 

He passed on, but upon his return repeated the question, and received 
the same answer. The day was hot, the air offensive, from putrefying 
wounds, and the delegate was putting cologne on the handkerchiefs of 
the patients. 

" Colonel, let me put some of this on your handkerchief." 

The wounded man burst into tears. " I have no handkerchief." 

" Well, you shall have one ; " and wetting his own gave it to him. 

" I can't understand you Yankees," said the colonel. " You fight us 
like devils, and then you treat us like angels. I am sorry I entered this 
war." 

Said another Confederate, — an Irishman, — to a chaplain who took 
care of him, " May every hair of your head be a wax taper to light you 
on your way to glory ! " 

A chaplain, passing through the hospital, came to a cot where lay a 
young wounded soldier who had fought for the Union. 

" Poor fellow ! " said the chaplain. 

" Don't call me ' poor fellow ! ' " was the indignant reply. 

" Dear fellow, then. Have you written to your mother since the 
battle ? " 

'• No, sir ! " 

" You ought to. Here it is the 10th, — a whole week since the bat- 
tle. She will be anxious to hear from you." 

The lad with his left hand threw aside the sheet which covered him, 
and the chaplain saw that his right arm was off near the shoulder. 

" That is the reason, sir, that I have not written. I have not for- 
gotten her, sir. I have prayed for her, and I thank God for giving me 
so dear a mother." 

Then turning aside the sheet farther, the chaplain saw that his left 
leg was gone. Sitting down beside the young hero, the chaplain wrote 
as he dictated. 

" Tell mother that I have given my right arm and my left leg to my 
country, and that I am ready to give both of my other limbs ! " said he. 

The courage and patriotism of Spartan mothers is immortalised in 
story and song. " Return with your shield, or upon it," has been held 
up for admiration through three thousand years. The Greek fire is not 
extinguished ; it burns to-day as bright and pure as ever at Salamis or 
Marathon. 



322 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Riding in the cars through the State of New York, after the battle of 
Gettysburg, T fell in conversation with a middle-aged woman who had 
two sons in the army. 

" Have they been in battle ? " I asked. 

" Yes, sir ; one has been in fifteen battles. He was taken prisoner at 
Chancellorsville and was wounded at Gettysburg. The other is in the 
Medical Department." 

" The one who was wounded at Gettysburg must have seen some hard 
fighting." 

" Yes, sir ; and I hear a good account of him from his captain. He 
says my son behaves well. / told him, when he went away, that I would 
rather hear that he was dead than that he had disgraced himself." 

" His time must be nearly out." 

" Yes, sir, it is ; but he is going to see it through, and has reenlisted. 
I should like to have him at home, but I know he would be uneasy. His 
comrades have reenlisted, and he is not the boy to back out. I rather 
want him to help give the crushing blow." 

There were thousands of such mothers in the land. 

Lee retreated the morning after the battle. His reasons for a retro- 
grade movement are thus stated by himself : 

" Owing to the strength of the enemy's position and the reduction of 
our ammunition, a renewal of the engagement could not be hazarded, 
and the difficulty of procuring supplies rendered it impossible to continue 
longer where we were. Such of the wounded as were in condition to be 
removed, and part of the arms collected on the field, were ordered to 
Williamsport. The army remained at Gettysburg during the 4th, and 
at night began to retire by the road to Fairfield, carrying with it about 
four thousand prisoners. Nearly two thousand had previously been 
paroled, but the enemy's numerous wounded, that had fallen into our 
hands after the first and second days' engagements, were left behind." 

Meade made no attempt to follow him with his main army, but 
marched directly down the Emmettsburg road, once more to Frederick, 
then west over South Mountain to intercept him on the Potomac. 
Meade had the inside of the chess-board. He was a victor. The men 
who had made a forced march to Gettysburg were awake to the exi- 
gency of the hour, and made a quick march back to Frederick, and over 
the mountains to Boonsboro'. A severe storm set in, and the roads 
were almost impassable, but the men toiled on through the mire, lifting 
the cannon-wheels from the deep ruts, when the horses were unable to 



GETTYSBURG. 323 

drag the ordnance, singing songs as they marched, foot-sore and weary, 
but buoyant over the great victory. 

And now, as the intelligence came that Grant had taken Vicksburg, 
that Banks was in possession of Port Hudson, and that the Mississippi 
was flowing " unvexed to the sea," they forgot all their toils, hardships, 
and sufferings, and made the air ring with their lusty cheers. They 
could see the dawn of peace, — peace won by the sword. The women of 
Maryland hailed them as their deliverers, brought out the best stores 
from their pantries, and gave freely, refusing compensation. 

Meade left all his superfluous baggage behind, and moved in light 
marching order. Lee was encumbered by his wounded, and by his 
trains, and when he reached Hagerstown found that Meade was descend- 
ing the mountainside, and that Gregg was already in Boonsboro'. 

Reinforcements were sent to Meade from Washington, with the ex- 
pectation that by concentration of all available forces, Lee's army might 
be wholly destroyed. The elements, which had often retarded opera- 
tions of the Union troops, — which had rendered Burnside's and 
Hooker's movements abortive in several instances, now were propitious. 
The Potomac was rising, and the rain was still falling. On the morn- 
ing of the 13th I rode to General Meade's headquarters. General Seth 
Williams, the ever courteous adjutant-general of the army, was in 
General Meade's tent. He said that Meade was taking a look at the 
rebels. 

" Do you think that Lee can get across the Potomac ?" I asked. 

" Impossible ! The people resident here say that it cannot be forded 
at this stage of the water. He has no pontoons. We have got him in 
a tight place. We shall have reinforcements to-morrow, and a great 
battle will be fought. Lee is encumbered with his teams, and he is 
short of ammunition." 

General Meade came in, dripping with rain, from a reconnoissance. 
His countenance was unusually animated. He had ever been courteous 
to me, and while usually very reticent of all his intentions or of what 
was going on, as an officer should be, yet in this instance he broke over 
his habitual silence, and said, " We shall have a great battle to-morrow. 
The reinforcements are coming up, and as soon as they come we shall 
pitch in." 

I rode along the lines with Howard in the afternoon. The rebels 
were in sight. The pickets were firing at each other. There was some 
movement of columns. 



324 THE BOYS OF '61. 

" I fear that Lee is getting away," said Howard. 

He sent an aid to Meade, with a request that he might attack. 

" I can double them up," he said, meaning that, as he was on Lee's 
flank, he could strike an effective blow. 

Kilpatrick was beyond Howard, well up towards Williamsport. " Lee 
is getting across the river, I think," he said through a messenger. 

It was nearly night. The attack was to be made early in the 
morning. 

The morning dawned and Lee was south of the Potomac. That 
officer says: 

" The army, after an arduous march, rendered more difficult by the 
rains, reached Hagerstown on the afternoon of the 6th and morning of 
the 7th of July. 

" The Potomac was found to be so much swollen by the rains that 
had fallen almost incessantly since our entrance into Maryland, as to be 
unfordable. Our communications with the south side were thus inter- 
rupted, and it was difficult to procure either ammunition or subsistence, 
the latter difficulty being enhanced by the high waters impeding the 
working of the neighbouring mills. The trains with the wounded and 
prisoners were compelled to await at Williamsport the subsiding of the 
river and the construction of boats, as the pontoon bridge, left at Fall- 
ing Waters, had been partially destroyed. The enemy had not yet 
made his appearance ; but as he was in condition to obtain large rein- 
forcements, and our situation, for the reasons above mentioned, was 
becoming daily more embarrassing, it was deemed advisable to recross 
the river. Part of the pontoon bridge was recovered, and new boats 
built, so that by the 13th a good bridge was thrown over the river at 
Falling Waters. 

" The enemy in- force reached our front on the 12th. A position had 
been previously selected to cover the Potomac from Williamsport to 
Falling Waters, and an attack was awaited during that and the succeed- 
ing day. This did not take place, though the two armies were in close 
proximity, the enemy being occupied in fortifying his own lines. Our 
preparations being completed, and the river, though still deep, being 
pronounced fordable, the army commenced to withdraw to the south 
side on the night of the 13th. 

" Ewell's corps forded the river at Williamsport, those of Longstreet 
and Hill crossed upon the bridge. Owing to the condition of the roads, 
the troops did not reach the bridge until after daylight of the 14th, and 



GETTYSBURG. 



325 



the crossing was not completed until 1 p. m., when the bridge was 
removed. The enemy offered no serious interruption, and the move- 
ment was attended with no loss of material except a few disabled wagons 
and two pieces of artillery, which the horses were unable to move through 
the deep mud. Before fresh horses could be sent back for them, the 
rear of the column had passed." 

Kilpatrick was astir at daybreak ; he moved into Williamsport. I 
accompanied his column. The rebels were on the Virginia hills, jubilant 






TENDERLY CARED FOR. 




at their escape. There were wagons in the river, floating down with 
the current, which had been capsized in the crossing. Kilpatrick pushed 
on to Falling Waters, fell upon Pettigrew's brigade, guarding the pon- 
toons, captured two cannon and eight hundred men, in one of the most 
daring dashes of the war. It was poor satisfaction, however, when 
contrasted with what might have been done. The army was cha- 
grined. Loud were the denunciations of Meade. 

"Another campaign on the Rappahannock, boys," said one officer in 
my hearing. 

" We shall be in our old quarters in a few days," said another. 



326 THE BOYS OF '61. 

General Meade has been severely censured for not attacking on the 
13th. Lee had lost thirty thousand men. He had suffered a crushing 
defeat at Gettysburg. Enthusiasm had died out. His soldiers were less 
confident than they had been. His ammunition was nearly exhausted. 
He was in a critical situation. 

Those were reasons why he should be attacked ; but there were also 
reasons, which to Meade were conclusive, that the attack should not be 
made till the 14th : the swollen river, the belief that Lee had no 
means of crossing the Potomac, and the expected reinforcements. 
The delay was not from lack of spirit or over - caution ; but with the 
expectation of striking a blow which would destroy the rebel army. 

Lee went up the valley, while Meade pushed rapidly down the base of 
the Blue Ridge to Culpeper. But he was not in condition to take the 
offensive, so far from his base ; and the two armies sat down upon the 
banks of the Rapidan, to rest after the bloody campaign. 

Gettysburg through the summer was a vast hospital. Buildings 
were erected and the Union and Confederate wounded were kindly cared 
for by a host of warm-hearted men and women from all sections of the 
North, who hastened thither to serve as nurses. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

FROM THE RAPIDAN TO THE WILDERNESS. 

THE day after the battle of Gettysburg, July 4, 1863, came the 
surrender of Vicksburg, followed by that of Port Hudson, 
severing Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana from the other Confederate 
States. During the summer the Army of the Potomac rested on the 
banks of the Rappahannock, in the vicinity of Culpeper. 

In the West, General Burnside in September occupied Knoxville ; 
General Rosecrans crossed the Tennessee River and advanced to 
Chickamaugua. The Confederate Government detached Longstreet's 
command from the Army of Northern Virginia, sent it "West, uniting 
it with Bragg's command, and inflicting a severe defeat to Rosecrans. 

General Grant was summoned to succeed Rosecrans. Sherman's 
corps made the march from the valley of the Mississippi to Chattanooga, 
and the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps, under Hooker, were detached from 
the Army of the Potomac and transported, with cannon, horses, and 
baggage, to Tennessee. This concentration of troops enabled Grant to 
win the victories of Wauhatchie, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary 
Ridge. 

Through the entire season the Army of the Potomac remained 
inactive. The last week in November General Meade advanced to 
Mine Run, but, finding Lee strongly entrenched and a severe storm 
setting in, refrained from bringing on a general battle, returned to 
his former camp and settled down for the winter. Congress the while 
revived the office of Lieutenant- General, formerly held by General 
Scott, and the President appointed General Grant to hold that rank. 
It was his province to plan the military movements over all the country. 
During the winter there had been a reorganisation of the army. The 
Eleventh and Twelfth Corps remained in the West and were combined 
in one, forming the Twentieth. The First was incorporated with the 
Fifth, the Third with the Sixth. The Second Corps was enlarged by 
new troops. The corps commanders were : General Hancock, of the 
Second, Warren, of the Fifth, Sedgwick, of the Sixth. The Ninth 

327 



328 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



Corps, composed largely of new troops, was at Annapolis, in Maryland, 
under the command of General Burnside. 




ON THE MARCH TO THE WILDERNESS. 



Up to the appointment of Grant as Lieutenant -General each com- 
mander of a department received his instructions from the War Depart- 
ment. General Halleck, military adviser, held to the theory that when 



FROM THE RAPIDAN TO THE WILDERNESS. 



329 



once a section of the seceded States came under the control of the Army 
it must be held ; in consequence the troops had been widely scattered. 
There were nineteen distinct military districts. General Grant believed 
in the concentration of the troops, and the crushing out of the Confeder- 
ates. It would be an easy matter for the Government to exercise its 
authority when the Confederate military power was destroyed. 




IN WINTER QUARTERS ON THK RAPPAHANNOCK. 

In obedience to a summons, General Grant arrived in Washington 
March 9th. He never had met President Lincoln. The Cabinet and 
Hon. E. B. Washburn, member of Congress from Galena, General Grant's 
home, were in the White House when the newly elected Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral entered it. 

" General Grant," said the President, " the Nation's appreciation of 
what you have done, and its reliance upon you for what remains to be 
done in the existing struggle, are now presented with this commission, 
constituting you Lieutenant - General of the Army of the United States. 



330 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



With this high honour devolves upon you a corresponding responsibility. 
As the country trusts in you, so, under God, it will sustain you. I 
scarcely need add that with what I here speak for the Nation goes my 
own hearty personal concurrence." 




LIEUTENANT-GENERAL V. S. GRANT. 



Mr. Lincoln spoke with trembling lips. 

" Mr. President," General Grant replied, " I accept the commission 
for the high honour conferred. With the aid of the noble armies that 
have fought on so many fields of our common country, it will be my 
earnest endeavour not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full 






FROM THE RAPIDAN TO THE WILDERNESS. 331 

responsibilities now devolving upon me ; and I know if they are met it 
will be due to those armies, and, above all, to the favour of that Provi- 
dence which leads nations and men." 

General Grant visited the army at Culpeper, spent a day with Gen- 
eral Meade, took a look at the soldiers in a quiet way, and returned to 
Washington. Mr. Lincoln had prepared a grand dinner in his honour. 

" Mr. Lincoln must excuse me," he said ; " I must be in Tennessee at 
the earliest possible moment." 

" But we can't excuse you," said the President. " Were we to sit 
down without you it would be Hamlet, with Hamlet left out." 

" I appreciate the honour, Mr. President, but time is very precious just 
now. The loss of a day means the loss of a million to the country." 

It seems probable that the declination to the dinner gave Mr. Lincoln 
more pleasure than its acceptance would have done ; it was evident that 
at last a man had been found whose whole soul was enlisted in prosecut- 
ing the war. 

On his way to Tennessee General Grant planned the campaign for the 
year. He determined upon the concentration of troops. Those in Ten- 
nessee were to be under Sherman. He himself would accompany the 
Army of the Potomac. General Meade stood ready to retire, but he 
decided to allow him to retain command. He was somewhat perplexed 
in regard to Burnside, who had once commanded the army. He could 
not make him subordinate to Meade, and was compelled by circum- 
stances to make Burnside's an independent command — cooperating with 
the Army of the Potomac. 

General Gillmore, with what troops that could be spared from the 
Department of the South, joined his forces to those on the Peninsula and 
at Suffolk under General Butler ; Sigel commanded several thousand in 
the Shenandoah ; Crook and Averell had a small army in Western Vir- 
ginia; at Chattanooga, under Sherman and Thomas, was gathered a 
large army of Western troops ; while Banks was up the Red River, mov- 
ing towards Shreveport. 

The dramatis persona? were known to the public, but the part assigned 
to each was kept profoundly secret. There was discussion and specula- 
tion whether Burnside, from his encampment at Annapolis, would 
suddenly take transports and go to Wilmington, or up the Rappahan- 
nock, or the James, or the York. Would Meade move directly across 
the Rapidan and attack Lee in front, with every passage, every hill, and 
ravine enfiladed by Confederate cannon ? Or would he move his right 



332 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



flank along the Blue Ridge, crowding Lee to the seaboard ? Would he 
not make, rather, a sudden change of base to Fredericksburg ? None of 
the wise men, military or civil, in their speculations, indicated the line 
which General Grant adopted. The public accepted the disaster at 
Chancellorsville and the failure at Mine Run as conclusive evidence that 
a successful advance across the Rapidan by the middle fords was impos- 
sible, or at least improbable. So well was the secret kept, that, aside 

from the corps commanders, 
none in or out of the army, 
except the President and 
Secretary of War, had in- 
formation of the line of 
march intended. 

General Grant had a grand 
plan, — not merely for the 
Army of the Potomac, but 
for all of the armies in the 
Union service. 

Banks was to take Shreve- • 
port, then sail rapidly down 
the Mississippi and move 
upon Mobile, accompanied 
by the naval force under 
Farragut. Sherman was to 
push Johnston from his posi- 
tion near Chattanooga. If 
Banks succeeded at Mobile, 
he was to move up to Mont- 
Such a movement would compel 
It would sever 




MAJOR-GENERAL BEN.T. F. BUTLER. 



gomery and cooperate with Sherman 

the rebel General Johnston to retire from Atlanta 

Alabama and Mississippi from the other States of the Confederacy. 

Butler was to move up the James and seize Richmond, or cut the rail- 
roads south of the Appomattox. Sigel was to pass up the Shenandoah, 
while the troops in western Virginia were to sever the railroad leading 
to East Tennessee. 

The Army of the Potomac was to move upon Richmond, — or rather 
upon Lee's army. The policy of General Grant — the idea upon which 
he opened and conducted the campaign — must be fully comprehended 
before the events can be clearly understood. 



FROM THE RAPIDAN TO THE WILDERNESS. 333 

That idea is thus expressed in General Grant's official report : 

" From an early period in the Rebellion I had been impressed with 
the idea that active and continuous operations of all the troops that 
could be brought into the field, regardless of season and weather, 
were necessary to a speedy termination of the war. The resources 
of the enemy, and his numerical strength, were far inferior to ours; 
but as an offset to this we had a vast territory, with a population 
hostile to the Government, to garrison, and long lines of river and 
railroad communications to protect, to enable us to supply the operat- 
ing armies. 

" The armies in the East and West acted independently and without 
concert, like a balky team, no two ever pulling together, enabling the 
enemy to use to great advantage his interior lines of communication for 
transporting troops from east to west, reinforcing the army most vigor- 
ously pressed, and to furlough large numbers during seasons of inactivity 
on our part, to go to their homes, and do the work of producing for the 
support of their armies. It was a question whether our numerical 
strength and resources were not more than balanced by these disadvan- 
tages and the enemy's superior position. 

" From the first I was firm in the conviction that no peace could be 
had that would be stable and conducive to the happiness of the people, 
both North and South, until the military power of the Rebellion was 
entirely broken. 

" I therefore determined, first, to use the greatest number of troops 
practicable against the armed force of the enemy ; preventing him from 
using the same force at different seasons against first one and then 
another of our armies, and the possibility of repose for refitting and 
producing necessary supplies for carrying on resistance. Second, to 
hammer continuously against the armed force of the enemy and his 
resources, until, by mere attrition, if in no other way, there should be 
nothing left to him but an equal submission with the loyal section of 
our common country, to the Constitution and laws of the land." 

The Army of the Potomac had no easy task to perform. Lee had the 
advantage of position. The Rapidan was his line. He had improved 
his old earthworks and thrown up new ones. His cannon covered the 
fords. His army was as large as when he invaded Pennsylvania. Grant 
must cross the Rapidan at some point. To attempt and fail would be 
disastrous. It was easy to say, Push on ! but it was far different to 
meet the storm of leaden hail, — far different to see a line waver, 



334 THE BOYS OF '61. 

break, and scatter to the rear, with utter loss of heart. Those were 
contingencies and possibilities to be taken into account. 

It was no light affair to supply an army of one hundred and fifty 
thousand men, over a single line of railway, to accumulate supplies in 
advance of the movement, to cut loose from his base of operations, 
and open a new base as occasion should call. Every mile of advance 
increased Grant's difficulty, while every mile of retrograde movement 
carried Lee nearer to his base of operations. 

All the speculations in regard to Burnside's destination fell to the 
ground when, on the 25th of April, the Ninth Corps passed through 
Washington, and moved into Virginia. It was a sublime spectacle. 
The Ninth Corps achieved almost the first successes of the war in 
North Carolina. It had hastened to the Potomac in time to aid in 
rescuing the capital when Lee made his first Northern invasion. It won 
glory at South Mountain, and made the narrow bridge of Antietam for- 
ever historic. It had reached Kentucky in season to aid in driving the 
rebels from that State, and now, with recruited ranks, with new regi- 
ments of as good blood as ever was poured out in the cause of right, 
with a new element which was to make for itself a name never again to 
be despised, the corps was marching through the capital of the nation, 
passing in review before Abraham Lincoln. The corps marched down 
Fourteenth Street past Willard's Hotel, where, upon the balcony, stood 
the President and General Burnside. My position was a window on the 
opposite side of the street. Behold the scene ! Platoons, companies, 
battalions, regiments, brigades, and divisions. The men are bronzed by 
the rays of a Southern sun, and by the March winds. The bright sun- 
shine gleams from their bayonets ; above them wave their standards, 
tattered by the winds, torn by cannon-ball, and rifle-shot, — stained with 
the blood of dying heroes. They are priceless treasures, more beloved 
than houses, land, riches, honour, ease, comfort, wife or children. Ask 
them what is most dear of all earthly things, there will be but one 
answer, — " The flag ! the dear old flag ! " It is their pillar of fire by 
night, of cloud by day, — the symbol of everything worth living for, 
worth dying for ! 

Their banners bear the names of Bull Run, Ball's Bluff, Roanoke, 
Newburn, Gaines's Mills, Mechanicsville, Seven Pines, Savage Station, 
Glendale, Malvern, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Antietam, South 
Mountain, Knoxville, Vicksburg, Port Hudson, Gettysburg, inscribed in 
golden characters. 



FROM THE RAPIDAN TO THE WILDERNESS. 337 

The people of Washington have turned out to see them. Senators 
have left their Chamber and the House of Representatives has taken a 
recess to gaze upon the defenders of their country, as they pass through 
the city, — many of them, alas ! never to return. 

There is the steady tramping of the thousands, the deep, heavy jar 
' of the gun - carriages, the clattering of hoofs, the clanking of sabres, 
the drum-beat, the bugle-call, and the music of the bands. Pavement, 
sidewalk, windows, and roofs are occupied by the people. A division of 
veterans passes, saluting the President and their commander with cheers. 
And now with full ranks, platoons extending from sidewalk to sidewalk, 
are brigades which never have been in battle, for the first time shoulder- 
ing arms for their country ; who till a year ago never had a country, 
who even now are not American citizens, who are disfranchised, — yet 
they are going out to fight for the flag ! Their country was given them 
by the tall, pale, benevolent -hearted man standing upon the balcony. 
For the first time they behold their benefactor. They are darker hued 
than their veteran comrades ; but they can cheer as lustily, " Hurrah ! 
Hurrah ! " " Hurrah for Massa Linkum ! " " Three cheers for the 
President ! " They swing their caps, clap their hands, and shout their 
joy. Long, loud, and jubilant are the rejoicings of those redeemed sons 
of Africa. Regiment after regiment of stalwart men, — slaves once, 
but freemen now, — with steady step and even rank, pass down the 
street, moving on to the Old Dominion. 

It was the first review of coloured troops by the President. He gave 
them freedom, he recognised them as soldiers. Their brethren in arms 
of the same complexion had been murdered in cold blood, after sur- 
render, at Fort Pillow and at Plymouth. And such would be their fate 
should they by chance become prisoners of war. 

From Washington I proceeded to Culpeper and joined the army. I 
had not seen General Grant since the day I parted from him at Corinth, 
May, 1862, yet so wonderful his memory that he recognised me and 
gave me a cordial greeting. I had forwarded a request for a pass which 
he kindly gave, good in every military department and on all Govern- 
ment transports and trains. 

The time had come for the great movement. 

On Tuesday afternoon, May 3d, the cavalry broke camp on the 
Orange and Alexandria Railroad, and moved eastward, — General 
Gregg's division towards Ely's Ford, and General Wilson's division 
towards Germanna Ford, each having pontoons. At midnight the 



338 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Second Corps, which had been encamped east of Culpeper, followed 
General Gregg. At daylight on the morning of the 4th of May, the 
Fifth and Sixth Corps and the reserve artillery were moving towards 
Germanna Ford. The supply-train — four thousand wagons — followed 
the Second Corps. There were but these two available roads. 

The enemy was at Orange Court House, watching, from his elevated 
lookout on Clark's Mountain, for the first sign of change in the Union 
camp. In the light of the early dawn he saw that the encampments at 
Culpeper were broken up, while the dust-cloud hanging over the forest 
toward the east was the sure indication of the movement. 

General Lee put his army in instant motion to strike the advancing 
columns as they crossed the Rapidan. The movement of Grant was 
southeast, that of Lee northeast, — lines of advance which must produce 
collision, unless Grant was far enough forward to slip by the angle. 
There is reason to believe that General Grant did not intend to fight 
Lee at Wilderness, but that it was his design to slip past that point and 
swing round by Spottsylvania, and, if possible, get between Lee and 
Richmond. He boldly cut loose his connection with Washington, and 
plunged into the Wilderness, relying upon the ability of his soldiers to 
open a new base for supplies whenever needed. 

In this first day's movement he did not uncover Washington. Burn- 
side was still lying on the north bank of the Rappahannock. It was 
understood in the Army that the Ninth Corps was to be a reserve to 
protect the capital. So, perhaps, Lee understood it. But at nightfall, 
on the 4th, the shelter-tents were folded, and the men of the Ninth, 
with six days' rations in their haversacks, were on the march along the 
forest -road, lighted only by the stars, joining the main army at 
Germanna Ford on the morning of the 5th. 

It was early in the morning on the 4th of May when the reveille 
sounded for the last time over the hills and dales of Culpeper. The 
last cups of coffee were drunk, the blankets folded, and then the Army, 
which through the winter had lain in camp, moved away from the log 
huts, where many a jest had been spoken, many a story told, — where, 
through rain and mud, and heat and cold, the faithful and true-hearted 
men had kept watch and ward through the long, weary months, — 
where songs of praise and prayer to God had been raised by thousands 
who looked beyond the present into the future life. 

So rapid was the march that the Second Corps reached Chancellors- 
ville before night, having crossed the Rapidan at Ely's Ford. The Sixth 






FROM THE RAPIDAN TO THE WILDERNESS. 339 

and Fifth Corps crossed at Germanna Ford, without opposition, and be- 
fore night the Army of the Potomac was upon the southern side of that 
stream, where it was joined by the Ninth Corps the next morning. 

General Grant's quarters for the night were in an old house near the 
ford. Lights were to be put out at nine o'clock. There were the usual 
scenes of a bivouac, and one unusual to an army. The last beams of 
daylight were fading in the west. The drummers were beating the tat- 
too. Mingled with the constant rumbling of the wagons across the 
pontoons, and the unceasing flow of the river, was a chorus of voices, — 
a brigade singing a hymn of devotion. It was the grand old choral of 
Luther, Old Hundred. 

" Eternal are Thy mercies, Lord, 
Eternal truth attends Thy word ; 
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore, 
Till suns shall rise and set no more." 

Many soldiers in that army were thinking of home, — not only of loved 
ones, and of associations full of sweet and tender memories, but of a 
better abiding-place, eternal in the heavens. To thousands it was a last 
night on earth. 

Early in the morning of the 5th Generals Meade and Grant, with 
their staffs, after riding five miles from Germanna Ford, halted near an 
old mill in the Wilderness. General Sheridan's cavalry had been push- 
ing out south and west. Aids came back with despatches. 

" They say that Lee intends to fight us here," said General Meade, as 
he read them. 

" Very well," was the quiet reply of General Grant. 

The two commanders retire a little from the crowd, and stand by the 
roadside in earnest conversation. Grant is of medium stature, yet has 
a well developed physique, sandy whiskers and moustache, blue eyes, 
earnest, thoughtful, and far-seeing, a cigar in his mouth, a knife in one 
hand, and a stick in the other, which he is whittling to a point. He 
whittles slowly towards him. His thoughts are not yet crystallised. 
His words are few. Suddenly he commences upon the other end of the 
stick, and whittles energetically from him. And now he is less reticent, 
j — talks freely. He is dressed in plain blue; and were it not for the 
three stars upon his shoulder, few would select him as the Lieutenant- 
General commanding all the armies of the Union in the field. 

Meade is tall, thin, a little stooping in the shoulders, quick, compre- 



340 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



liending the situation of affairs in an instant, energetic, — an officer of 
excellent executive ability. 

Years ago, a turnpike was built from Fredericksburg to Orange Court 
House ; but in the days when there was a mania for plank roads, an- 
other corporation constructed a plank road between the same places. 
A branch plank road, commencing two miles west of Chancellorsville, 
crosses the Rapidan at Germanna Ford, running to Stevensburg, north 

of that stream. The turn- 
pike runs nearly east and 
west, while the Stevensburg 
plank road runs northwest. 
General Grant has estab- 
lished his headquarters at 
the crossing of the turnpike 
and the Stevensburg road, his 
flag waving from a knoll 
west of the road. A mile 
and a half out on the turn- 
pike, on a ridge, is Parker's 
store, where, early in the 
morning, I saw long lines of 
rebel infantry, the sunlight 
gleaming from bayonet and 
gun-barrel. 

Before the contest begins, 
let us go up to the old Wil- 
derness tavern, which stands 
on the Stevensburg plank 
road, and take a view of a 
portion of the battle-field. It will be a limited view, for there are few 
open spaces in the Wilderness. 

From the tavern you look west. At your feet is a brook, flowing 
from the southwest, and another small stream from the northwest, join- 
ing their waters at the crossing of the turnpike and the plank road. 
The turnpike rises over a ridge between the two streams. On the south 
slope is the house of Major Lacy, owner of a house at Falmouth, used 
by our soldiers after the battle of Fredericksburg. It is a beautiful 
view, — a smooth lawn in front of the house, meadows green with the 
verdure of spring ; beyond the meadows are hills thickly wooded, tall 




MAJOR-GENERAL GOUVERNEUR K. WARREN. 






FROM THE RAPIDAN TO THE WILDERNESS. 341 

oaks, and pine and cedar thickets. On the right hand side of the turn- 
pike the ridge is more broken, and also thickly set with small trees and 
bushes. A mile and a half out from the crossing of the two roads the 
ridge breaks down into a ravine. General Lee has possession of the 
western bank, Grant the eastern. It is such a mixture of woods, under- 
brush, thickets, ravines, hills, hollows, and knolls, that one is bewildered 
in passing through it, and to attempt to describe would be a complete 
bewilderment to writer and reader. 

But General Grant has been compelled to make this ridge his right 
line of battle. He must protect his trains, which are still coming in on 
the Germanna road. 

The Sixth Corps, commanded by General Sedgwick, holds the right, 
covering the road to Germanna Ford. The left of the Third Division 
reaches the turnpike, where it connects with the Fifth Corps, Warren's. 
Before the arrival of Burnside's force, one division of the Fifth is placed 
in position south of the turnpike. Now leaving a wide gap, you walk 
through the woods towards the southeast, and two miles from headquar- 
ters you find the Second Corps, under Hancock, a long line of men in 
the thick forest, on both sides of the Orange plank road. 

The forenoon of the 5th instant was devoted to taking positions. En- 
gineers rode over the ground and examined the character of the country. 
A small party pushed out to Parker's store, but encountered a Confeder- 
ate column advancing ; but the knowledge thus obtained of the ground 
in that direction was of great value. 

Word was sent to General Hancock, who had orders to move in 
direction of Spottsylvania, that Lee was taking positions. He hastened 
to make connection with the other corps. Had he not moved rapidly, 
Lee would have obtained possession of the fork of the two plank roads, 
the Stevensburg and the Orange road, which would have been a serious 
mishap. The Confederate advance was not more than a mile distant 
when Hancock secured it. No sooner had the pickets been thrown out, 
than the rattling of musketry commenced all along the line. About 
four in the afternoon, each commander began to feel the position of the 
other by advancing brigades on the right, left, and centre. An exchange 
of a few volleys would seemingly satisfy the parties. 

It had been the practice of General Lee to begin and close a day with 
a grand fusillade. In this battle he adhered to his former tactics, by 
advancing a heavy force upon our right, and then, when the contest was 
at its height in that direction, attacked on the left. The rolls of mus- 



342 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



ketry were very heavy and continuous for an hour. There was but little 
opportunity to charge bayonets. It was a close contest in a thick wood, 
on land which years ago was turned by the plough, but which, having, by 
thriftless culture incident to the existence of servile labour, been worn 
out, now bears the smallest oaks, hazels, sassafras, and briers. 

Hostilities ceased at night. Each commander learned enough of the 
other's operations to make dispositions for the following day. Grant 

had no alterations to 
make. Lee had forced 
him to accept battle 
there, and he must do 
the best he could. Long- 
street arrived in the 
night, and was placed 
against Hancock, on the 
rebel right, or rather on 
the right centre, over- 
lapping the Second and 
coining against a portion 
of the Ninth Corps, 
which was assigned to 
the left centre. Thus 
these two corps and 
their two commanders 
met again in deadly con- 
flict, having fought at the 
first and second Bull Run, 
South Mountain, Antie- 
tam, and Knoxville. 
General Alexander Hays, in the front line, finding that he was out- 
numbered, sent word to Hancock that he must have reinforcements. 

" Tell him," said Hancock to the aid, " that he shall have a fresh 
brigade in twenty minutes." 

Twenty minutes ! An age to those who see their comrades falling, — 
their lines growing thinner. Before the time had expired, General Hays 
was carried back a corpse ; but though the brave man had fallen, the 
troops held their ground. 

Night closed over the scene. Everybody knew that the contest would 
be renewed in the morning. Lee began the attack on the 5th, falling 




BRIGADIER -GENERAL ALEXANDER HAYS. 



FROM THE RAPIDAN TO THE WILDERNESS. 



343 



like a thunderbolt on the flank of Grant, but made no impression on the 
Union lines, — not moving them an inch from their chosen positions. 

Grant resolved to take the initiative on the morning of the 6th, and 
orders were accordingly issued for a general attack at daybreak. 

Sedgwick was to commence on the right at five o'clock, but Lee 
saved him the trouble. A. P. Hill forestalled the movement by advanc- 
ing at half-past four. The enemy's batteries by Parker's store sent a 
half-dozen shots into the Union lines as a signal for the beginning of 
the contest. Then came a slight ripple of musketry, then a roll, — long, 
deep, heavy, — and the crash, — indescribable, fearful to hear, terrible 




to think of. Fifty thousand muskets were flashing, with occasional 
cannon-shots, mingled with shouts, cheers, and hurrahs from the Union 
lines, and yells like the war-whoop of Indians, — wild, savage howls 
from the depths of the tangled jungle. The sun rises upon a cloudless 
sky. The air becomes sultry. The blood of the combatants is at fever 
heat. There are bayonet-charges, surgings to and fro of the opposing 
lines, a meeting and commingling, like waves of the ocean, sudden up- 
springings from the underbrush of divisions stealthily advanced. There 
is a continuous rattle, with intervening rolls deepening into long, heavy 
swells, the crescendo and the diminuendo of a terrible symphony, rising 
to thunder-tones, to crash and roar indescribable. 

The Ninth Corps during the day was brought between the Fifth and 
Second. Divisions were moved to the right, to the left, and to the 
centre, during the two days' fight, but the positions of the corps 
remained unchanged, and stood as represented in the diagram. 



344 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



Through all those long hours of conflict there was patient endurance 
in front of the enemy. There were temporary successes and reverses on 
both sides. In only a single instance was there permanent advantage 




THE SECOND LINE REMAINED FIRM. 



to Lee, and that he had not the power to improve. It was at the close 
of the contest on the 6th. The sun had gone down, and twilight was 
deepening into night. The wearied men of Ricketts' division of the 



FROM THE RAPIDAN TO THE WILDERNESS. 345 

Sixth Corps, in the front line of battle on the right, had thrown them- 
selves upon the ground. Suddenly there was a rush upon their flank. 
There was musketry, blinding flashes from cannon, and explosions of 
shells. The line which had stood firmly through the day gave way, not 
because it was overpowered, but because it was surprised. General 
Seymour and a portion of his brigade were taken prisoners. There was 
a partial panic, which soon subsided. The second line remained firm, 
the enemy was driven back, and the disaster repaired by swinging the 
Sixth Corps roimd to a new position, covered by the reserve artillery. 

On the morning of the 7 th the pickets reported that Lee had fallen 
back. Reconnoitring parties said that he was throwing up entrench- 
ments. General Grant had a cigar in his mouth from morning till 
night. I saw him many times during the day, deeply absorbed in 
thought. He rode along the centre, and examined the Confederate lines 
towards Parker's store. At times a shell or solid shot came from the 
enemy's batteries through the thick forest growth, but other than this 
there was but little fighting. Grant determined to make a push for 
Spottsylvania, and put his army between Lee and Richmond. By noon 
the trains were in motion, having been preceded by Sheridan with the 
cavalry, followed by the Ninth Corps, and then the Fifth on a parallel 
road. But Lee had the shortest line. He was on the alert, and there 
was a simultaneous movement of the rebel army on a shorter line. 

The Second, Fifth, and Sixth Corps took the Brock road, while the 
Ninth, with the trains, moved by Chancellorsville, over the battle-ground 
of the preceding summer, where the bones of those who fell in that 
struggle were bleaching unburied in the summer air. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOUR. 

IT was eleven o'clock at night when, sleeping beneath the pines at 
Hancock's headquarters, I was awakened by the tramping of horses. 
Springing to my feet and leaping into the saddle, I rode with Generals 
Grant and Meade and their staffs at a break-neck speed through the 
woods, towards Todd's farm, a place of two or three houses and a 
country store. 

Twice during the ride we ran into the rebel pickets, and were 
compelled to take by-paths through fields and thickets. General Grant 
rode at a break-neck speed. How exciting! The sudden flashing of 
rebel muskets in front, the whiz of the minie projectile over our heads, 
the quick halt and right about face, — our horses stumbling over fallen 
timber and stumps, the clanking of sabres, the clattering of hoofs, the 
plunge into brambles, the tension of every nerve, the strain upon all 
the senses, the feeling of relief when we are once more in the road, and 
then the gallop along the narrow way, beneath the dark pines of the 
forest, till brought to a halt by the sudden challenge from our own 
sentinel ! It is a fast life that one leads at such a time. 

" Where are you going ? " was the question of a cavalryman, as 
we halted a moment. 

" To Spottsylvania." 

" I reckon you will have a scrimmage before you get there," said he. 

"Why?" 

" Well, nothing in particular, except there are forty or fifty thousand 
rebs in front of you. Sheridan has had a tough time of it, and I 
reckon there is more work to be done." 

We pushed on and reached Todd's at one o'clock on Sunday morning. 
The roads were full of cavalry, also the fields and woods. Sheridan 
had been fighting several hours, with Fitz Lee. The wounded were 
being brought in. Surgeons were at work. In the field, a short 
distance from the spot, the pickets were still firing shots. The rebels 
were retiring, and Sheridan's men, having won the field, were throwing 

346 



FKOM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOUR. 



347 



themselves upon the ground and dropping off to sleep as unconcernedly 
as when seeking rest in the calm repose and silence of their far-distant 
homes. 




sheridan's skirmishers. 



Fastening our horses to the front -yard fence of Todd's, making a 
pillow of our saddles, wrenching off the palings for a bed to keep our 
bones from the ground, wrapping our blankets around us, we were sound 



348 THE BOYS OF '61. 

asleep in three minutes, undisturbed by the tramping of the passing 
troops, the jar of the artillery, the rumble of the ammunition wagons, 
the shouts of the soldiers, the shrieks of the wounded, and groans 
of the dying. 

At sunrise the headquarters of the army were removed to Piney 
Grove Church. No bell called the worshippers of the parish to its 
portal on that Sabbath morning, but other tones were vibrating the air. 
The Fifth Corps had come in collision with the enemy, and while the 
rear-guard of the Army were firing their last shots in the Wilderness, 
the cannonade was reopening at Spottsylvania. 

The day was intensely hot. I was wearied by the events of the 
week, — the hard riding, the want of sleep, the series of battles, — and, 
instead of riding out to the field, enjoyed luxurious repose beneath the 
apple-trees, fragrant with blossoms, and listened to the strange Sabbath 
symphony, the humming of bees, the songs of the birds, the roll of 
musketry, and the cannonade. 

The Second Division, Robinson's, and the Fourth, Cutler's (after the 
loss of Wadsworth, killed at the Wilderness), were engaged. Baxter's 
brigade of Robinson's division was thrown forward to ascertain the 
position of the enemy. Their advance brought on the battle. The 
Sixth Corps was moved to the left of Warren's on the Piney Church 
road, and was placed in supporting distance. In this first engagement 
Robinson was badly wounded in the leg. 

The Second Corps having filed through the woods, after a hot and 
dusty march, came up behind the Fifth and Sixth. I took a ride along 
the lines late in the afternoon. The Fifth was moving slowly forward, 
over undulations and through pine thickets, — a long line of men in 
blue, picking their way, now through dense underbrush, in a forest of 
moaning pines, now stepping over a sluggish stream, with briers, hazel, 
thorn-bushes, and alders impeding every step, and now emerging into an 
old field where the thriftless farmers had turned the shallow soil for 
spring planting. 

There had been a lull in the cannonade, but it commenced again. It 
was, as before, a spirited contest, which lasted half an hour. Warren 
pressed steadily on and drove the Confederates from their advanced 
position, forcing them to retire across the creek, but losing several 
hundred men before he dislodged them. 

Reaching an opening in the forest, I came upon Hart's plantation, a 
collection of negro huts and farm buildings, — a lovely spot, where the 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOUR. 



349 



spring wheat was already rolling in green waves in the passing breeze. 
Looking south over Po Creek, I could see the Catharpen road lined with 
horse and footmen, and could hear in the intervals of silence the rumble 
of wagons. A cloud of dust rose above the forest. Were the rebels 
retreating, or were they receiving reinforcements ? General Grant came 







BREVET MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN C. ROBINSON. 

down and looked at them. The rebel artillerists near the court-house 
must have discovered us, for a half-dozen cannon-shot came ringing 
through the air, plunging into the newly ploughed corn - field and the 
clover-land, knee-deep with luxuriant grass. 

On Monday morning it was found that Lee's whole army was at Spott- 
sylvania ; and as our skirmishers were deployed to ascertain the position 
of the enemy, it was discovered that rebels occupied all the ground in 



350 THE BOYS OF '61. 

front. General Grant did not at first think Lee would make a detour of 
his whole force from a direct line to Richmond ; he thought it must be 
only detachments of men which had been thrown in his way ; but when 
he discovered what Lee's intentions were, he prepared to accept battle. 
Word was sent to General Burnside to take position on the extreme left. 
The Second Corps, which had been in rear of the Fifth, was swung to 
the right, while the Sixth was deflected toward the Ninth. While these 
dispositions were being made, the skirmishing and cannonade were 
never intermitted for an instant. A pontoon train was sent around to 
the right, to be used by Hancock. A battery was placed in position at 
Hart's plantation, and its rifle-shot and shells interrupted the tide of 
travel on the Catharpen road. Riding down to the front of Hancock's 
corps, I found Birney, who, with the Third Division, held the extreme 
right, and had already pushed far over toward the Catharpen road. 

Gibbon's division was in the centre, and Barlow's was on the left, 
occupying, in part, ground which the Fifth had held the night previous. 
It was nearly night, and the conflict was deepening. The day had been 
intensely hot, but, as the coolness of evening came on, both parties 
addressed themselves to the encounter. Barlow inarched over undulating 
pasture-lands, through fringes of forest, into a meadow, across it, and 
into the dark pines beyond. Taking a favorable stand near a deserted 
farmhouse, by the Piney Church road, I could see the dark lines move 
steadily on. Below me, on a hillock, were Hancock and staff directing 
movements. A half-dozen batteries were in position close by. One, the 
Third Massachusetts, was sending its shells over the heads of our men 
into the woods beyond the meadow. Mounting the breastworks, wdiich 
had been thrown up at this spot, I could see the orchard where the Con- 
federate riflemen were lying. There was the sharp, shrill ringing of the 
minie bullets whistling through the air, and at times a lurid sheet of 
flame from a brigade pouring in its volleys. There was the flash, the 
cloud of dust wherever the ragged iron tore its way, and the deafening 
report. I gladly availed myself of whatever protection the breastwork 
afforded, although a solid shot would have passed through the slight 
embankment as readily as a stone could be hurled through chaff. The 
chances were as one to several thousand of my being hit, but it is the 
one chance which makes a person wish he were somewhere else. The 
Second Corps was smartly assailed, but stood their ground and became 
assailants in turn, not because they obeyed orders, but from the impulse 
of the men, who needed no urging. It was a remarkable feature. The 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOUR. 



351 



men in that contest fought because they wanted to. Gibbons and Birney 
swung like a double - hinged door upon Longstreet's left flank and 
obtained possession of the ground which the enemy occupied at the 
beginning of the engagement. 

It became evident on Tuesday morning that General Lee had chosen 
Spottsylvania as a place for a trial of strength. Preparations were 
accordingly made for the work. General Grant's wounded impeded his 
movements. He decided to send them to Fredericksburg. All who 
could walk were started on foot. Those who could not, but who did not 
need ambulances, were placed in empty wagons. The long procession 
took its winding way, and other thousands of mangled forms were 
brought in to fill the empty places. It was a sad sight. It made me 
sick at heart, and weary of war, and how much more sick and weary 
when I thought of the great iniquity which had caused it. 

The relative positions of the two armies will be seen from the follow- 
ing diagram : 




SPOTTSYLVANIA. 



At daybreak the cannonade recommenced, Grant's guns coming first 
into play. The Confederates for a while remained in silent indifference ; 
but as continued teasing rouses a wild beast's anger, so at length they 
replied. 

The air was calm, and the reverberation rolled far over the forest. 
There was constant skirmishing through the forenoon. General Grant 
rode along the lines, inspected the position, and issued orders for a 
general advance at five o'clock ; but Lee took the initiative, and through 
the afternoon the battle raged with exceeding fierceness. 

There was nothing at Spottsylvania worthy of contention, — no 



352 THE BOYS OF '61. 

mountain pass or deep-running river had come out to meet him on that 
spot. Lee had the advantage of position and was able to concentrate 
his forces. It was about one o'clock when Longstreet began to press 
Hancock. There was a hot engagement for an hour, principally by 
Birney's division; but failing to move Birney, an attempt was made 
to pry open still wider the joint between the Second and Fifth Corps. 

The battle was fought in the forest, in the marshes along the Ny, in 
ravines, in pine thickets densely shaded with the dark evergreens that 
shut out the rays of the noonday sun, in open fields, where rebel bat- 
teries had full sweep and play, with shell, and grape, and canister, from 
entrenched positions on the hills. 

During a lull in the strife I visited the hospitals. Suddenly the 
battle recommenced in greater fury. The wounded began to come in at 
a fearful rate. The battle was drawing nearer. Shells were streaming 
past the hospitals. There were signs of disaster. 

" Are they driving us ?" was the eager inquiry of the wounded. 

While the storm was at its height, a stalwart soldier, who had just 
risen from the amputating table, where his left arm, torn to shreds by 
a cannon-shot, had been severed above the elbow, leaning against the 
tent-pole, sang the song he often had sung in camp, — 

" The Union forever ! Hurrah, boys ! hurrah I 
Down with the traitor, up with the star ; 
While we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again, 
Shouting the battle-cry of freedom ! " 

His wounded comrades heard it, and joined in the chorus, raising 
their arms, swinging their caps, and cheering the flag they loved. It is 
one of memory's fadeless pictures. Is it a wonder that the recollection 
of that scene sometimes fills my eyes with tears? 

The contest all along the line was terrific. Even now, over all the 
intervening time and distance, I seem to hear the unceasing rattle and 
roll of musketry and cannon, the cheer of the combatants, the tramping 
of horses, the explosion of shells, the shriek of the rifled projectile, the 
crash through the trees. It goes on hour after hour. The ranks are 
thinning. The men with stretchers bring in their bleeding burdens, and 
lay them gently upon the ground. 

It is past seven o'clock. The shades of evening are falling. The hill- 
side in front of the Sixth Corps is aflame. While the uproar is wildest 
there is a cheer, sharper and louder than the din of the conflict. It is 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOUR. 353 

not the savage war-cry of the enemy, but a buoyant shout. Into the 
storm sweeps the Vermont brigade, with bayonets firmly set, leaping 
over the rebel works, and gathering hundreds of prisoners from Dale's 
brigade of Confederates. Ewell poured in reinforcements to strengthen 
his line and regain his lost work, which was stubbornly held by the 
Second Vermont. Far in advance of the main line lay that regiment, 
pouring a deadly fire upon the enemy. General Wright (in command 
after Sedgwick's death) sent to have the regiment withdrawn. 

" We don't want to go back ! Give us rations and ammunition, and 
we '11 hold it for six months if you want us to," was the reply. 

General Wright rode to General Grant. " What shall I do ? " he 
asked. 

" Pile in the men and hold it. " was the answer. 

General Wright returned, but meanwhile a subordinate officer had 
ordered them to retire. They were loath to give up what they had won 
so gloriously. 

General Rice, commanding a brigade in the Fifth Corps, was wounded, 
and borne to the rear. The surgeon laid down his knife after removing 
the shattered limb, and stood beside him to soothe with tender words in 
the last dread hour which was coming on apace. The sufferer could 
hear the swelling tide of battle, the deepening rolls like waves upon the 
ocean shore. His pain was intense. 

" Turn me over," said he, faintly. 

" Which way ? " 

" Let me die with my face to the enemy ! " 

They were his last words. A short struggle and all was ended. A 
Christian patriot had finished his work on earth, and was numbered 
with the heroic dead. 

It was nearly eleven o'clock in the evening when I dismounted from 
my horse at the headquarters of General Grant. He was sitting jon a 
camp-chair smoking a cigar. The only other person present was Hon- 
orable E. B. Washburne, his most intimate friend, who had been 
instrumental in obtaining General Grant's appointment as Lieutenant- 
General. There were times when the commander-in-chief was reticent 
on all subjects, but there were also times when he gave full expression 
to his thoughts. I asked if he had anything which I might transmit to 
the people through the press, which was kindly given in regard to the 
] movements. He said, in addition : " We have had hard fighting to-day, 
and, I am sorry to say, have not accomplished much. We have lost a 



354 THE BOYS OF '61. 

good many men, and I suppose I shall be blamed for it." He was silent 
a moment and added : "I do not know of any way to put down this 
Rebellion and restore the authority of the Government except by fight- 
ing, and righting means that men must be killed. If the people of this 
country expect that the war can be conducted to a successful issue in 
any other way than by fighting, they must get somebody other than 
myself to command the army." After another silence he detailed the 
general plan he had formulated for Sherman towards Atlanta ; that 
Banks had been directed to return from the Red River and join 
General Comby at New Orleans, and together move on Mobile, but 
the failure of the Red River movement had upset his plans in that 
direction. General Meade rode up, and courtesy required that I should 
at once retire. 

The following morning saw me again at headquarters ready to accom- 
pany Mr. Washburne to Washington, who was to go on important busi- 
ness. We were to have a special steamer from Aquia Creek. We were 
sitting on our horses waiting for the despatches. 

" Have you any word to send to the President or the Secretary of 
War ? " Mr. Washburne asked. 

" I will send a brief note," General Grant replied. A few minutes 
later he handed Mr. Washburne a letter. Little did we think it con- 
tained one sentence that would thrill the hearts of every loyal citizen : 
" I am now sending back to Belle Plain all my wagons for a fresh 
supply of provisions, and I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes 
all summer^ 

Before getting back to the army an important movement had been 
made by the Second Corps in the night to the farm of Mr. Londron and 
a charge at what is now known as the " Bloody Angle." 

The early dawn of Thursday, the 12th, beheld the Second Corps in 
motion, — not to flank the enemy, but moving, with fixed bayonets, 
straight on towards his entrenchments. Barlow's and Birney's divisions 
in columns of battalions, doubled on the centre, to give strength and 
firmness, led the assault. They move silently through the forest, 
through the ravine in front of them, up to their own skirmish-line, 
past it, no longer marching, but running, dashing on with enthusiasm 
thrilling every nerve. They sweep away the rebel picket-line as if it 
were a cobweb. On ! into the entrenchments, with a hurrah which 
startles the soldiers of both armies from their morning slumbers. 
Major- General Johnson and Brigadier- General Stewart, and three 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOUR. 355 

thousand men of Ewell's division are taken prisoners, eighteen can- 
non, and twenty-two standards captured. 

It was the work of five minutes, — as sudden as the swoop of an 
eagle. Then the uproar of the day began. The second line of the 
enemy's works was assaulted ; but, exasperated by their losses, the 
rebels fought fiercely. The Ninth Corps was moved up from the left 
to support the Second. Longstreet, on the other hand, was brought 
over to help Ewell. The Fifth and Sixth became partially engaged. 
There were charges and counter charges. Positions were gained and 
lost. From morning till night the contest raged on the right, in the 
centre, and on the left, swaying to and fro over the undulations, and 
through the ravines. It was a battle of fourteen hours' duration, — in 
severity, in unflinching determination, in obstinacy, not exceeded by any 
during the war. Between forty and fifty pieces of artillery were at one 
time in the hands of General Hancock ; but owing to the difficulties of 
removal, and the efforts of the enemy, he could secure only eighteen. 
During the day Grant advanced his lines a mile towards the court- 
house, and repulsed Lee in all his counter attacks. 

During the lull in the strife at Spottsylvania 1 spent a day in Fred- 
ericksburg, visiting the hospitals. 

The city was a vast hospital ; churches, public buildings, private dwel- 
lings, stores, chambers, attics, basements, all were full. There were 
thousands upon the sidewalk. All day long the ambulances had been 
arriving from the field. There were but few wounded left at the front, 
those only whom to remove would be certain death. 

A red flag had been flung out at the Sanitary Commission rooms, — a 
white one at the rooms of the Christian Commission. There were three 
hundred volunteer nurses in attendance. The Sanitary Commission had 
fourteen wagons bringing supplies from Belle Plain. The Christian 
Commission had less transportation facilities, but in devotion, in hard 
work, in patient effort, it was the compeer of its more bountifully sup- 
plied neighbour. The nurses were divided into details, some for day 
service, some for night work. Each State had its Relief Committee. 

How patient the brave fellows were ! Not a word of complaint, but 
thanks for the slightest favour. There was a lack of crutches. I saw 
an old soldier of the California regiment, who fought with the lamented 
Baker at Ball's Bluff, and who had been in more than twenty battles, 
hobbling about with the arms of a settee nailed to strips of board. His 
regiment was on its way home, its three years of service having expired. 



356 THE BOYS OF '61. 

It was reduced to a score or two of weather-beaten, battle-scarred vet- 
erans. The disabled comrade could hardly keep back the tears as he saw 
them pass down the street. " Few of us left. The bones of the boys 
are on every battle-field where the Army of the Potomac has fought," 
said he. 

There was the sound of the pick and spade in the church-yard, a 
heaving up of new earth, a digging of trenches, not for defence against 
the enemy, but for the last resting-place of departed heroes. There they 
lie, each wrapped in his blanket, the last bivouac ! For them there is 
no more war, no charges into the thick, leaden rain-drops, no more 
hurrahs, no more cheering for the dear old flag ! They have fallen, but 
the victory is theirs, — theirs the roll of eternal honour. Side by side, 
men from Massachusetts, from Pennsylvania, and from Wisconsin, 
from all the States, resting in one common grave. Peace to them ! 
Blessings on the dear ones, wives, mothers, children whom they have 
left behind ! 

Go into the hospitals ; armless, legless men, wounds of every descrip- 
tion. Men on the floor, on the hard seats of church-pews, lying in one 
position all day, unable to move till the nurse, going the rounds, gives 
them aid. They must wait till their food comes. Some must be fed 
with a spoon, for they are as helpless as little children. 

" Oh, that we could get some straw for the brave fellows ! " said the 
Rev. Mr. Kimball, of the Christian Commission. He had wandered 
about town, searching for the article. 

" There is none to be had. We shall have to send to Washington for 
it," said the surgeon in charge. 

" Straw ! I remember two stacks, four miles out on the Spottsyl- 
vania road. I saw them last night as I galloped in from the front." 

Armed with a requisition from the Provost - Marshal to seize two 
stacks of straw, with two wagons driven by freedmen, accompanied by 
four Christian Commission delegates, away we went across the battle- 
field of December, fording Hazel Run, gaining the heights, and reaching 
the straw stacks owned by Rev. Mr. Owen, a bitter Secessionist. 

" By whose authority do you take my property ? " 

" The Provost-Marshal, sir." 

" Are you going to pay me for it ? " 

"You must see the Provost -Marshal, sir. If you are a loyal man, 
and will take the oath of allegiance, doubtless you will get your pay 
when we have put down the Rebellion." 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOUR. 357 

" It is pretty hard. My children are just ready to starve. I have 
nothing for them to eat, and you come to take my property without 
paying for it." 

" Yes, sir, war is hard. You must remember, sir, that there are 
thousands of wounded men, — your rebel wounded as well as ours. If 
your children are on the point of starving, those men are on the point of 
dying. We must have the straw for them. What we don't take to- 
night we will get in the morning. Meanwhile, sir, if anybody attempts 
to take it, please say to them that it is for the hospital, and they can't 
have it." 

Thus, with wagons stuffed, we leave Rev. Mr. Owen and return to 
make glad the hearts of several thousand men. Oh, how they thank us ! 

" Did you get it for me ? God bless you, sir." 

It is evening. Thousands of soldiers, just arrived from Washington, 
have passed through the town to take their places in the front. The 
hills around are white with innumerable tents. 

A band is playing lively airs to cheer the wounded in the hospitals. I 
have been looking in to see the sufferers. Two or three have gone to 
their long home. They will need no more attention. A surgeon is at 
work upon a ghastly wound, taking up the arteries. An attendant is 
pouring cold water upon a swollen limb. In the Episcopal church a 
nurse is bolstering up a wounded officer in the area behind the altar. 

There are earnest supplications that God will bless them ; that they 
may have patience ; that Jesus will pillow their heads upon His breast, 
relieve their sufferings, soothe their sorrows, wipe away all their tears, 
heal their wounds ; that He will remember the widow and the fatherless, 
far away, moaning for the loved and lost. 

Another hymn, — 

" Jesus, lover of my soul, 
Let me to thy bosom fly," 

and the delegates return to their work of mercy. 

At Spottsylvania there were constant skirmishing and artillery-firing 
through the 13th, and a moving of the army from the north to the east 
of the Court House. A rain storm set in. The roads became heavy, 
and a contemplated movement — a sudden flank attack — was neces- 
sarily abandoned. 

There was a severe skirmish on the 14th, incessant picket-firing on the 
15th, and on the 16th another engagement all along the line, — not 



358 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



fought with the fierceness of that of the 12th, but lasting through the 
forenoon, and resulting in the taking of a line of rifle-pits from the 
enemy. 

On Wednesday, the 18th, there was an assault upon Lee's outer line 
of works. Two lines of rifle-pits were carried ; but an impassable abatis 
prevented farther advance, and after a six hours' struggle the troops 
were withdrawn. 

On the afternoon of the 19th, Ewell gained the rear of Grant's right 
flank, and came suddenly upon Tyler's division of heavy artillery, armed 
as infantry, just arrived upon the field. Though surprised, they held 
the enemy in check, forced him back, and, with aid from the Second 
Corps, compelled him to retreat, with great loss. The attack was made 
to cover Lee's withdrawal to the North Anna. His troops were already 
on the march. 

Grant was swift to follow. 

It is a two days' march from Spottsylvania to the North Anna. The 




crossings of the Mattapony were held by rebel cavalry, which was 
quickly driven. Then came the gallant crossing of the Fifth Corps at 
Jericho Ford, the irresistible charge of Birney and Barlow of the 
Second Corps at Taylor's Bridge, the sweeping in of five hundred 
prisoners, the severe engagements lasting three days, — all memorable 
events, worthy of prominence in a full history of the campaign. 

The North Anna is a rapid stream, with high banks. East of Taylor's 
bridge, towards Sexton's Junction, there is an extensive swamp, but 
westward the country is rolling. It was supposed that Lee would make 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOUR. 361 

a stubborn resistance at the crossings, but at Jericho Warren found 
only a few pickets upon the southern bank. A pontoon was laid and 
two divisions sent over ; but moving towards the railroad a mile, they 
encountered Hood's and Pickett's divisions of Ewell's corps. The 
cannonade was heavy and the musketry sharp, mainly between Cutler's 
command and Ewell's, lasting till dark. 

It is about two miles from Jericho crossing to the railroad, the point 
for which the right wing was aiming. 

" I reckon that our troops did n't expect you to come this way," said 
Mr. Quarles, a citizen residing on the north bank, with whom I found 
accommodation for the night. 

" I suppose you did n't expect Grant to get this side of the Wilder- 
ness ? " 

" We heard that he was retreating towards Fredericksburg," was the 
response. 

He was the owner of a sawmill. Timber was wanted for the con- 
struction of a bridge. His mill was out of repair, but there were men 
in the Union army accustomed to run sawmills, and an hour was 
sufficient to put the machinery in order for the manufacture of lumber. 
It was amusing to see the soldiers lay down their guns, take up the 
crowbar, roll the logs into the mill, adjust the saw, hoist the gate, and 
sit upon the log while the saw was cutting its way. The owner of the 
mill looked on in disgust, as his lumber was thus freely handled. 

In the first advance from Jericho bridge, the force was repulsed. 
The troops of Ewell's command came on with confidence, to drive the 
retreating troops into the river ; but Warren had taken the precaution 
to place his smooth-bore guns on a hillock, south of the stream, while 
his rifled pieces were on the north side, in position to give a cross-fire 
with the smooth-bores. When the Confederates came within reach of 
this concentrated fire they were almost instantly checked. It was no 
time to rush on, or to stand still and deliberate ; they fled, uncovering 
the railroad, to which the Sixth advanced, tearing up the track and 
burning the depot. In the centre, the Ninth Corps had a severe fight, 
resulting in considerable loss. 

It is two miles from Jericho bridge to Carmel Church, which stands 
in a beautiful grove of oaks. While the troops were resting beneath 
the trees, waiting for the order to move, a chaplain entered the church 
and proposed to hold religious service. 

The soldiers manifested their pleasure, kneeled reverently during the 



^ 



362 THE BOYS OF '61. 

prayer, and listened with tearful eyes to the exhortations which 
followed. 

It was inspiring to hear them sing, — 

" Come, sing to me of heaven, 
When I 'm about to die ; 
Sing songs of holy ecstasy, 
To waft my soul on high." 

At dark on the evening of the 25th of May, I rode along the lines 
of the Second Corps to take a look at the Confederates. There was a 
steady fire of artillery. One battery had full sweep of the plain, and 
the shells were flying merrily. A thunder-storm was rising. The 
lightning was vivid and incessant. My headquarters for the night were 
to be with a surgeon attached to the First Division of the Ninth Corps, 
several miles distant. The dense, black clouds rising in the west made 
the night intensely dark, except when the lightning -flashes gleamed 
along the sky. It was a scene of sublime grandeur : heaven's artillery 
in play, — the heavy peals of thunder mingling with the roar of the 
battle-field ! After an hour's ride, through pine thickets, over old corn- 
fields, half -blinded by the lightning, I reached the quarters of my 
friend the surgeon, whose tent was just then being packed into the 
wagon for a night march to a new position. The storm was close at 
hand, and together we fled for shelter to a neighbouring cabin. I had 
barely time to fasten my horse and enter the door before the storm 
was upon us. 

The house was built of logs, chinked with mud, contained two rooms 
about fifteen feet square, and was occupied by a coloured family. 

Others had fled for shelter to the hospitable roof. I found congregated 
there for the night nine surgeons, three hospital nurses, a delegate of 
the Christian Commission, two soldiers, two coloured women, a coloured 
man, three children. The coloured people had taken their only pig into 
the house, to save the animal from being killed by the soldiers, and had 
tied it to the bed -post. Their poultry — half a dozen fowls — was 
imprisoned under a basket. The rain fell in torrents throughout the 
night. Finding a place under the table for my head, with my overcoat 
for a pillow, and thrusting my legs under the bed, which was occupied 
by three surgeons, I passed the night, and thought myself much more 
highly favoured than the forty or fifty who came to the door, but 
only to find a full hotel. 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOUR. 363 

Instead of trying to walk over the obstacle in his path, Grant 
decided to go round it. Stealing a march upon Lee, he moved suddenly 
southeast, crossed the Pamunkey at Hanover Town, opened a new 
base of supplies at White House, forcing Lee to fall back on the 
Chickahominy. 

On Sunday, the 29th, a great cavalry engagement took place at 
Hawes's shop, west of Hanover Town, in which Sheridan drove the 
Confederates back upon Bethesda Church. The army came into position 
on the 30th, its right towards Hanover Court House. Lee was already 
in position, and during the day there was firing all along the line. All 
the corps were engaged. The Second Corps by the Shelton House, by 
a bayonet charge pushed the enemy from the outer line of works which 
he had thrown up, while the Fifth Corps rolled back, with terrible 
slaughter, the mass of men which came upon its flank and front at 
Bethesda Church. At Cold Harbour, the Sixth, joined by the Eighteenth 
Army Corps, under Major-General W. F. Smith, from Bermuda Hun- 
dred, met Longstreet and Breckenridge, and troops from Beauregard. 
Sheridan had seized this important point, — important because of the 
junction of the roads, — and held it against cavalry and infantry till 
the arrival of the Fifth and Eighteenth. The point secured, a new line 
of battle was formed on the 1st of June. The Ninth held the right of 
Bethesda Church ; the Fifth was south of the church, joining the 
Eighteenth ; the Sixth held the road from Cold Harbour to Gaines's 
Mills ; while the Second was thrown out on the left, on the road leading 
to Despatch Station and the Chickahominy. 

In the campaign of 1862, Cold Harbour was General McClellan's 
headquarters while he was on the north bank of the Chickahominy, and 
Jackson, when he advanced to attack Fitz John Porter, marched down 
the road over which Grant moved, to that locality. It is a place of one 
house, — an old tavern standing at a crossing of roads, twelve miles 
from Richmond. The most direct route to the city runs past Gaines's 
Mills, where the first of the series of battles was fought before Rich- 
mond, in the seven days' contest. Jackson's headquarters were at Cold 
Harbour during that engagement. 

A huge catalpa stands in front of the old tavern, where in the peace- 
ful days of the Old Dominion travellers rested their horses beneath the 
grateful shade, while they drank their toddy at the tavern bar. Two 
great battles were fought there by Grant, the first on the evening of the 
1st of June, the second on the evening of the 3d. 



364 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



There is a line of breastworks west of the house, a few rods distant, 
behind which Russell's division of the Sixth Corps is lying. The road 
to Despatch Station runs due south ; the road to New Cold Harbour south- 
west, the road to Bethesda Church northwest. In the battle fought on 
the 1st instant, Neil was east of the road leading to Despatch Station, 
Russell west of the house, and Ricketts northwest. 

Passing toward the right one mile, we come to the house of Daniel 
Woody, which is in rear of the right of the line of the Eighteenth. It 
is the headquarters of General Martindale, who commands the right 
division of the line. Next is Brooks's division in the centre, with Devens 
on the left, connecting with Ricketts's on the right of the Sixth. 

The general position of the two armies in Grant's battles at Cold 
Harbour is indicated by the accompanying diagram : 




There is a clear space west of Woody's house, a corn-field lately 
planted, but now trodden by the feet of Martinclale's men. In front of 
Brooks there is a gentle swell of land, wooded with pines. On the crest 
of the hill there is a line of Confederate rifle-pits. In front of Devens 
the swell is smoothed to a plain, or rather there is a depression, as if 
the hillock had been scooped out of the plain. This also is wooded. 
The belt of timber stretches over the plain, crossing the road to Gaines's 
Mills, about half a mile from the tavern, — a dark strip of green, twenty 
or thirty rods in width. Beyond the belt, toward Richmond, is a smooth 



FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO COLD HARBOUR. 365 

field, half a mile in width, bounded on the farther edge, under the 
shadow of another belt of green, by the line of Beauregard's breastworks. 
The line of rebel defence runs diagonally to the road, the distance being 
less between Ricketts and the work than on the left in front of Neil. 
This plain is swept by the enemy's cannon and thousands of rifles 
and muskets. 

It was. past six o'clock — nearly seven — before the troops were in 
position to move upon the enemy's works. They inarched through the 
woods, emerged upon the open field. The enemy's batteries opened 
with redoubled fury, but the line advanced steadily. Devens found the 
depression in front of him almost a marsh, with trees felled, forming 
an abatis ; but his men passed through, and again came into line. 
Burnham's brigade, of Brooks's division, containing the Tenth and 
Thirteenth New Hampshire, Eighth Connecticut, and One Hundred and 
Eighteenth New York, charged up the hill in front, and took the rifle- 
pits above them. Ricketts, having less distance to advance than the 
other divisions of the Sixth, was soonest in the fight, sweeping all 
before him. Before the rebels could reload their pieces after the first 
volley, the bayonets of the advancing columns, gleaming in the light of 
the setting sun, were at their throats. Half a brigade were taken prison- 
ers, while those in front of Ricketts fled in disorder. 

Russell, moving along the road, received an enfilading fire from 
artillery and musketry. The Confederates having recovered from their 
panic, held on with stubbornness. The broad plain over which Russell 
moved was fringed with fire. From dark till past ten o'clock Brecken- 
ridge tried in vain to recover what he had lost. 

The loss was severe to us in killed and wounded. But it was a 
victory so signal that a congratulatory order was issued by General 
Meade to the Sixth Corps. 

Lying beneath the ever-moaning pines, with the star-lit heavens for a 
tent, I listened to the sounds of the battle, — steady, monotonous, like 
the surf on the beach. An hour's sleep, and still it was rolling in. 
But all things must have an end. Near midnight it died away, and 
there was only the chirping of the cricket, the unvarying note of the 
whippoorwill, and the wind swaying the stately trees around me. 
Peaceful all around ; but ah ! beyond those forest belts were the suffer- 
ing heroes, parched with thirst, fevered with the fight, bleeding for their 
country. 

The battle of the 3d of June was obstinate and bloody, and resulted 



366 THE BOYS OF '61. 

in great loss to Grant. The artillery firing was constant through the 
forenoon, but Lee was too strongly entrenched to be driven. 

As soon as there was a lull in the roar of battle, I improved the 
opportunity to visit the hospitals. There were long lines of ambulances 
bringing in the wounded, who were laid beneath the trees. Unconscious 
men were upon the tables, helpless in the hands of the surgeons, — to 
wake from a dreamless sleep with a limb gone, a bleeding stump of a 
leg or arm. Horrid the gashes where jagged iron had cut through the 
flesh, severing arteries and tendons in an instant. Heads, hands, legs, 
and arms mangled and dripping with blood, — human blood ! There 
were moans, low murmurings, wrenched from the men against their 
wills. Men were babbling, in their delirium, of other scenes, — dim 
recollections, which were momentary realities. To be with them and 
not do for them, to see suffering without power to alleviate, gives pain- 
ful tension to nerves, even though one may be familiar with the scenes 
of carnage. 

I turned from the scene all but ready to say, " Anything to stay this 
terrible destruction of human life." But there were other thoughts, — 
of retributive justice, — of sighs and groans, scourged backs, broken 
hearts, partings of mothers from their children, — the coffle train, and 
the various horrors of the accursed system of slavery, the cause of all 
this " wounding and hurt." I remembered that it was a contest between 
eternal right and infernal wrong; that He who is of infinite love and 
tenderness, in His war against rebellion, spared not His only begotten 
Son; — and thus consoled and strengthened, I could wish the contest to 
go on till victory should crown our efforts, and a permanent peace be 
the inheritance of our children. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

GETTING READY FOR A NEW MOVEMENT. 

THE morning after the disastrous attack at Cold Harbour was hot 
and sultry. The horses around General Grant's headquarters 
were restless from the flies?- and were stamping their feet. I was sitting 
near the commander-in-chief, who looked careworn and weary. 

" Is that musketry ? " he asked. 

" No, it is the horses," some one answered. 

" I reckon I am demoralised, for I can't tell it from distant musketry. 
Ever since we reached the Wilderness there has been scarcely an hour 
in which I have not heard the report of guns. We are all of us tired 
and the army must have a period of rest." 

I passed over to General Meade's tent and was received with a cheer- 
ful good-morning. Noticing a map of Virginia spread upon the table, I 
said, " General Meade, may I make a suggestion ? " 

" Certainly." 

" Thus far, since crossing the Rapidan, the Army has advanced wholly 
by its left flank ; why not make a movement by the right flank ? " 

" Well, what advantage will you gain by such a movement?" 

" You are down to the swamp of the Chickahominy. The ground 
northwest of Richmond is high, dry, and healthful, and, if reports are 
correct, the Confederate defences are much less formidable in that 
direction. 

" Yes, that is correct, but how will you supply the army ? " 

" You will have the railroad to Gordonsville, and that to Fredericks- 
burg and Belle Plain." 

" But will it not take a full corps to prevent Lee from destroying 
them?" 

He stopped a moment, then drew his finger across the map from Cold 
Harbour to Petersburg and said : 

" What would you say to choosing that line of approach instead ? " 

" I see it, general," I replied, the line of the James, the advantages of 
water carriage instead of railroad, flashing over me. Putting the re- 

367 



368 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



mark of General Grant in connection with that significant movement of 
General Meade's finger, led me to think there would be no movement for 
several days. 




"THE COMING OF THE TKOOP8 WAS HAILED WITH JOY." 

Mounting my horse I hastened to the White House, stepped on board 
a steamer, and made my way to Washington for a few days' rest, after 
the hardships of the campaign. 1 did not then know that General Grant, 



K GETTING READY FOR A NEW MOVEMENT. 369 

before starting from Culpeper, had thought of such a possible contin- 
gency; nor did I then know that word had been sent to Washington 
three days before for the pontoons to be sent to the James. 

The inarch from Spottsylvania to Cold Harbour had been through a 
section that had not before been visited by Union infantry. The coming 
of the troops was hailed with joy by the coloured people ; with lowering 
brows by the few old men remaining in the dilapidated farmhouses. 
No young men were to be seen ; they were all in the Confederate Army, 
or in nameless graves upon the many battle-fields. At the crossing of the 
Ny I found quarters at a farmhouse owned by a feeble, forceless, gray- 
bearded, black-eyed man. There was constitutionally a want of starch 
in his physical organisation. He was free and frank, but shiftless. He 
owned eighty acres of land, two negroes, an old horse, and a rickety 
cart. His house was mean, but it was charmingly located, overlooking 
the broad valley of the Mattapony, and surrounded by locusts and mag- 
nolias. Nature had done a great deal towards making it a paradise, but 
the owner had been an indifferent steward. Lying upon the grass 
beneath the trees, I fell into conversation with the proprietor. 

" This is Caroline County, I believe." 

" Yes, sir, this is old Caroline, — a county which has sold more 
negroes down south than any other in Virginia." 

" I was not aware of that ; but I remember now a negro song which 
I used to hear. The burden of it was, — 

" « I wish I was back in old Caroline.' " 

" Quite likely, for the great business of the county has been nigger- 
raising, and it has been our curse. I never owned only old Peter and 
his wife. I wish I did n't own them, for they are old and I have got to 
support them ; but how in the world I am to do it I don't know, for the 
soldiers have stripped me of everything." 

" Do you mean the Union soldiers ? " 

" Yes, and ours (rebels) also. First, my boys were conscripted. I 
kept them out as long as I could, but they were obliged to go. Then 
they took my horses. Then your cavalry came and took all my corn 
and stole my meat, and ransacked the house, seized my flour, killed my 
pigs and chickens, and here I am stripped of everything." 

" It is pretty hard, but your leaders would have it so." 

" I know it, sir, and we are getting our pay for it." 



370 



THE BOYS OF '61. 










GETTING READY FOR A NEW MOVEMENT. 371 

Broken hearts were nothing to him, — not that he was naturally worse 
than other men, but because slavery had blunted sensibility. 

During the march the next day towards the North Anna, I halted at a 
farmhouse. The owner had fled to Richmond in advance of the army, 
leaving his overseer, a stout, burly, red-faced, tobacco-chewing man. There 
were a score of old buildings on the premises. It had been a notable 
plantation, yielding luxuriant harvests of wheat, but the proprietor had 
turned his attention to the culture of tobacco and the breeding of 
negroes. He sold annually a crop of human beings for the Southern 
market. The day before our arrival, hearing that the Yankees were 
coming, he hurried forty or fifty souls to Richmond. He intended to 
take all, forty or fifty more, but the negroes fled to the woods. The 
overseer did his best to collect them, but in vain. The proprietor raved, 
and stormed, and became violent in his language and behaviour, threat- 
ening terrible punishment on all the runaways, but the appearance of a 
body of Union cavalry put an end to maledictions. He had a gang 
of men and women chained together, and hurried them toward 
Richmond. 

The runaways came out from their hiding-places when they saw the 
Yankees, and advanced fearlessly, with open countenances. The first 
pleasure of the negroes was to smile from ear to ear, the second to give 
everybody a drink of water or a piece of hoe-cake, the third to pack u > 
their bundles and be in readiness to join the army. 

" Are you not afraid of us ? " 

" Afraid ! Why, boss, I 's been praying for yer to come ; and now 
yer is here, thank de Lord." 

" Are you not afraid that we shall sell you ? " 

" No, boss, I is n't. The overseer said that you would sell us off to 
Cuba, to work in the sugar mill, but we did n't believe him." 

Among the servants was a bright mulatto girl, who was dancing, 
singing, and manifesting her joy in violent demonstration. 

" What makes you so happy ? " I asked. 

" Because you Yankees have come. I can go home now." 

" Is not this your home ? " 

" No. I come from Williamsport in Maryland." 

" When did you come from there ? " 

" Last year. Master sold me. I spect my brother is 'long with the 
army. He ran away last year. Master was afraid that I should run 
away, and he sold me." 



372 THE BOYS OF '61. 

The negroes came from all the surrounding plantations. Old men 
with venerable beards, horny hands, crippled with hard work and harder 
usage ; aged women, toothless, almost blind, steadying their steps with 
sticks; little negro boys, driving a team of skeleton steers, — mere bones 
and tendons covered with hide, — or wall-eyed horses, spavined, foun- 
dered, and lame, attached to rickety carts and wagons, piled with beds, 
tables, chairs, pots and kettles, hens, turkeys, ducks, women with infants 
in their arms, and a sable cloud of children trotting by their side. 

" Where are you going ? " I &aid to a short, thick-set, gray-bearded 
old man, shuffling along the road, his toes bulging from his old boots, 
and a tattered hat on his head, — his gray wool protruding from the 
crown. 

" I do'no, boss, where I 's going, but I reckon I '11 go where the army 
goes." 

" And leave your old home, your old master, and the place where you 
have lived all your days ? " 

" Yes, boss ; master, he 's gone. He went to Richmond. Reckon he 
went mighty sudden, boss, when he heard you was coming. Thought 
I 'd like to go along with you." 

His face streamed with perspiration. He had been sorely afflicted 
with rheumatism, and it was with difficulty that he kept up with the 
column, but it was not a hard matter to read the emotions of his heart. 
He was marching towards freedom. Suddenly a light had shined upon 
him. Hope had quickened in his soul. He had a vague idea of what 
was before him. He had broken loose from all which he had been 
accustomed to call his own, — his cabin, a mud-chinked structure, with 
the ground for a floor, his garden patch, — to go out, in his old age, 
wholly unprovided for, yet trusting in God that there would be food 
and raiment on the other side of Jordan. 

It was a Jordan to them. It was the Sabbath day, — bright, clear, 
calm, and delightful. There was a crowd of several hundred coloured 
people at a deserted farmhouse. 

" Will it disturb you if we have a little singing ? You see we feel so 
happy to-day that we would like to praise the Lord." 

It was the request of a middle-aged woman. 

" Not in the least. I should like to hear you." 

In a few moments a crowd had assembled in one of the rooms. A 
stout young man, black, bright-eyed, thick-wooled, took the centre of 
the room. The women and girls, dressed in their best clothes, which 



GETTING READY FOR A NEW MOVEMENT. 373 

they had put on to make their exodus from bondage in the best possible 
manner, stood in circles round him. The young man began to dance. 
He jumped up, clapped his hands, slapped his thighs, whirled round, 
stamped upon the floor. 

" Sisters, let us bless the Lord. Sisters, join in the chorus," he said, 
and led off with a kind of recitative, improvised as the excitement gave 
him utterance. From my note-book I select a few lines : 

RECITATIVE. 

" We are going to the other side of Jordan." 

CHORUS. 

" So glad ! so glad ! 
Bless the Lord for freedom, 

So glad ! so glad ! 
We are going on our way, 

So glad ! so glad ! 
To the other side of Jordan, 

So glad ! so glad ! 
Sisters, won't you follow ? 

So glad ! so glad ! 
Brothers, won't you follow ? " 

And so it went on for a half -hour, without cessation, all dancing, 
clapping their hands, tossing their heads. It was the ecstasy of action. 
It was a joy not to be uttered, but demonstrated. The old house par- 
took of their rejoicing. It rang with their jubilant shouts, and shook in 
all its joints. 

I stood an interested spectator. One woman, well dressed, intelligent, 
refined in her deportment, modest in her manner, said, " It is one way 
in which we worship, sir. It is our first day of freedom." 

The first day of freedom ! Behind her were years of suffering, hard- 
ship, unrequited toil, heartaches, darkness, no hope of recompense or of 
light in this life, but a changeless future. Death, aforetime, was their 
only deliverer. For them there was hope only in the grave. But sud- 
denly Hope had advanced from eternity into time. They need not wait 
for death ; in life they could be free. Is it a wonder that they exhibited 
extravagant joy ? 

Apart from the dancers was a woman with light hair, hazel eyes, and 
fair complexion. She sat upon the broad steps of the piazza, and looked 
out upon the fields, or rather into the air, unmindful of the crowd, the 



374 THE BOYS OF '61. 

dance, or the shouting. Her features were so nearly of the Anglo-Saxon 
type that it required a second look to assure one that there was African 
blood in her veins. She alone of all the crowd was sad in spirit. She 
evidently had no heart to join in the general jubilee. 

" Where did you come from ? " 1 asked. 

" From Caroline County." 

Almost every one else would have said, " From old Caroline." There 
was no trace of the negro dialect, more than you hear from all classes 
in the South, for slavery has left its taint upon the language ; it spares 
nothing, but is remorseless in its corrupting influences. 

" You do not join in the song and dance," I said. 

" No, sir." 

Most of them would have said " master " or " boss." 

" I should think you would want to dance on your first night of free- 
dom, if ever." 

" I don't dance, sir, in that way." 

" Was your master kind to you ? " 

" Yes, sir ; but he sold my husband and children down South." 

The secret of her sadness was out. 

" Where are you going ? or where do you expect to go ? " 

" I don't know, sir, and I don't care where I go." 

The conversation ran on for some minutes. She manifested no ani- 
mation, and did not once raise her eyes, but kept them fixed on vacancy. 
Husband and children sold, gone forever, — there was nothing in life to 
charm her. Even the prospect of freedom, with its undefined joys and 
pleasures, its soul-stirring expectations, raising the hopes of those around 
her, moved her not. 

Life was a blank. She had lived in her master's family, and was 
intelligent. She was the daughter of her master. She was high-toned 
in her feelings. The dancing and shouting of those around her were 
distasteful. It was to her more barbaric than Christian. She was 
alone among them. She felt her degradation. Freedom could not give 
her a birthright among the free. The daughter of her master ! It was 
gall and wormwood ; and he, her father, had sold her husband, and his 
grandchildren ! 

I had read of such things. But one needs to come in contact with 
slavery, to feel how utterly loathsome and hateful it is. There was the 
broken-hearted victim, so bruised that not freedom itself, neither the 
ecstasy of those around her, could awaken an emotion of joy. Hour 



GETTING READY FOR A NEW MOVEMENT. 



375 



after hour the festivities went on, but there she sat upon the step, 
looking down the desolate years gone by, or into a dreamless, hopeless 
future. 




"SHE HAD LIVED IX HKK MASTERS FAMILY. 

It was late at night before the dancers ceased, and then they stopped, 
not because of a surfeit of joy, but because the time had come for 
silence in the camp. It was their first Sabbath of freedom, and like 



376 t THE BOYS OF '61. 

the great king of Israel, upon the recovery of the ark of God, they 
danced before the Lord with all their might. 

We had a hard, dusty ride from the encampment at Mongohick to 
the Pamunkey. It was glorious, however, in the early morning to 
sweep along the winding forest road, with the headquarters' flag in 
advance. Wherever its silken folds were unfurled, there the two 
commanders might be found, — General Meade, commanding the Army 
of the Potomac, and General Grant, the commander of all the forces of 
the Union in the field. We passed the long line of troops, crossed the 
Pamunkey upon a pontoon bridge, rode a mile or two across the verdant 
intervale, and halted beneath the oaks, magnolias, and buttonwoods of 
an old Virginia mansion. The edifice was reared a century ago. It 
was of wood, stately and substantial. How luxurious the surrounding 
shade ; the smooth lawn, the rolled pathways bordered by box, with 
moss-roses, honeysuckle, and jessamines scenting the air, and the daisies 
dotting the greensward ! The sweep of open land, — viewing it from 
the wide portico ; the long reach of cultivated grounds ; acres of wheat 
rolling in the breeze, like waves of the ocean ; meadow-lands, smooth 
and fair ; distant groves and woodlands, — how magnificent ! It was 
an old estate, inherited by successive generations, by those whose 
pride it had been to keep the paternal acres in the family name. But 
the sons had all gone. A daughter was the last heir. She gave her 
hand, and heart, and the old homestead, — sheep, horses, a great stock 
of bovines, and a hundred negroes or more, — to her husband. The 
family name became extinct, and the homestead of seven or eight 
generations passed into the hands of one bearing another name. 

When McClellan was on the Peninsula, the shadow of the war-cloud 
swept past the place. One or two negroes ran away, but at that time 
they were not tolerated in camp. The campaign of 1862 left the estate 
unharmed. But Sheridan's cavalry, followed by the Sixth Corps, in 
its magnificent march from the North Anna, had suddenly and unex- 
pectedly disturbed the security of the old plantation. There was a 
rattling fire from carbines, a fierce fight, men wounded and dead, 
broken fences, trodden fields of wheat and clover ; ransacked stables, 
corn -bins, meat-houses, and a swift disappearing of live stock of every 
description. 

But to go back a little. The proprietor of this estate ardently 
espoused Secession. His wife was as earnest as he. They hated the 
North. They loved the institutions and principles of the South. They 



' GETTING READY FOR A NEW MOVEMENT. 377 

sold their surplus negroes in the Richmond market. They parted 
husbands and wives, tore children from the arms of their mothers, and 
separated them forever. They lived on unrequited labour, and grew 
rich through the breeding of human flesh for the market. 

When the war commenced, the owner of this magnificent estate 
enlisted in the army and was made a colonel of cavalry. He furnished 
supplies and kept open house for his comrades in arms ; but he fell in a 
cavalry engagement on the Rappahannock, in October, 1863, leaving a 
wife and three young children. The advance of the army, its sudden 

appearance on the Pamunkey, left Mrs. no time to remove her 

personal estate, or to send her negroes to Richmond for safe-keeping. 

Fitz-Hugh Lee disputed Sheridan's advance. The fighting began on 
this estate. Charges by squadrons and regiments were made through 
the corn-fields. Horses, cattle, hogs, sheep were seized by the cavalry- 
men. The garden, filled with young vegetables, was spoiled. In an 
hour there was complete desolation. The hundred negroes — cook, 
steward, chambermaid, house and field hands, old and young — all left 

their work and followed the army. Mrs. was left to do her own 

work. The parlours of the stately mansion were taken by the surgeons 

for a hospital. The change which Mrs. experienced was from 

affluence to abject poverty, from power to sudden helplessness. 

Passing by one of the negro cabins on the estate, I saw a middle-aged 
coloured woman packing a bundle. 

" Are you going to move ?" I asked. 

" Yes, sir ; I am going to follow the army." 

"What for ? Where will you go ?" 

" I want to go to Washington, to find my husband. He ran away 
awhile ago, and is at work in Washington." 

" Do you think it right, auntie, to leave your mistress, who has taken 
care of you so long ? " 

She had been busy with her bundle, but stopped now and stood erect 
before me, her hands on her hips. Her black eyes flashed. 

" Taken care of me ! What did she ever do for me ? Have n't I been 
her cook for more than thirty years? Haven't I cooked every meal she 
ever ate in that house ? What has she done for me in return ? She has 
sold my children down South, one after another. She has whipped me 
when I cried for them. She has treated me like a hog, sir ! Yes, sir, 
like a hog ! " 

She resumed her work of preparation for leaving. That night she 



378 THE BOYS OF '61. 

and her remaining children joined the thousands of coloured people who 
had already taken sudden leave of their masters. 

Returning to the mansion to see the wounded, 1 met Mrs. in the 

hall. She was tall, robust, dignified. She evidently did not fully realise 
the great change which had taken place in her affairs. The change was 
not complete at that moment. The coloured steward was there, hat in 
hand, obsequious, bowing politely, and obeying all commands. A half- 
hour before I had seen him in the cook's cabin, making arrangements 
for leaving the premises, and a half-hour later he was on his way toward 
freedom. 

"I wish I had gone to Richmond," said the lady. "This is terrible, 
terrible ! They have taken all my provisions, all my horses and cattle. 
My servants are going. What shall I do?" She sank upon the sofa, 
and for a moment gave way to her feelings. 

" You are better off here than you would be there, with the city full 
of wounded, and scant supplies in the market," I remarked. 

" You are right, sir. What could I do with my three little children 
there ? Yet how I am to live here I don't know. When will this 
terrible war come to an end ? " 

But enough of this scene. I have introduced it because it is real, and 
because it is but one of many. There are hundreds of Southern homes 
where the change has been equally great. Secession is not what they 
who started it thought it would be. The penalties for crime always 
come, sooner or later. God's scales are correctly balanced. He makes 
all things even. For every tear wrung from the slave by injustice, for 
every broken heart, for the weeping and wailing of mothers for their 
babes sold to the far-off South, for every wrong there is retribution. 

" Though the mills of God grind slowly, 
Yet they grind exceeding small ; 
Though with patience He stands waiting, 
With exactness grinds He all." 



CHAPTER XIX. 

PKOM COLD HARBOUR TO PETERSBURG. 

C^ ENERAL GRANT had tried to break Lee's lines at Cold Harbour, 
J and had been repulsed with great loss. The Richmond newspapers 
were jubilant. " He is floundering in the swamps of Chickahominy. 
He has reached the graveyard of Yankee armies," said they. 

The newspapers opposed to the war and in sympathy with the Rebel- 
lion, in the North, made Cold Harbour an occasion for glorifying Gen- 
eral McClellan, their candidate for the Presidency. 

" Grant is a butcher. He has sacrificed a hundred thousand lives. 
He acts under Lincoln's orders. Elect McClellan President, and we 
shall have peace." 

The army was dejected, but did not lose heart. It had been 
repulsed, had lost many brave men, but it had pushed Lee from the 
Wilderness to Richmond. 

The soldiers remembered the failure at Fredericksburg and the 
retreat from Chancellorsville, and in contrast saw that Grant had 
pluck. It is a quality of character which soldiers admire. They could 
also see that there was system in his movements. They sometimes 
spoke of him as the Grand Flanker. " He '11 flank Lee out of Rich- 
mond yet ; see if he don't," said a soldier. 

If Grant had failed to move Lee from his position in a direct attack, 
Lee also had failed to drive Grant from the junction of the roads at 
Cold Harbour, — an important point, as, by opening the railroad from 
White House, he could easily bring up his supplies. His army was 
intact, — not divided, as McClellan's had been, by the dark and sluggish 
Chickahominy. 

" What will Grant do ? " was a question often discussed around the 
mess-table of brigadiers, colonels, and captains, — by men who were 
bound to obey all orders, but who, nevertheless, had their own ideas 
as to the best method of conducting the campaign. The Lieutenant- 
General had the whole plan of operations settled for him many times. 
It was amusing to see the strategic points indicated on the maps. 

379 



380 THE BOYS OF '61. 

" He can swing in north of the city upon the high lands. The 
Chickahominy swamps don't extend above Mechanicsville," said one. 

" But how will he get supplies ? " 

"Open the Fredericksburg road. It is open now from Acquia Creek 
to the Rappahannock." 

But Grant, instead of opening the road, determined to break it up 
completely, also the Virginia Central, which runs to Gordonsville, to 
prevent Lee from moving upon Washington. Up to this time all of his 
movements, while they were upon Lee's flank, had not uncovered that 
city; but now Washington would take care of itself. 

The plan of the campaign had been well matured by General Grant 
before he started from Culpeper. He says : 

" My idea from the start had been to beat the enemy north of Rich- 
mond, if possible. Then, after destroying his lines of communication 
north of the James River, to transfer the army to the south side, and 
besiege Lee in Richmond, or follow him south if he should retreat." 

Grant was not willing to sacrifice his men. He resolved to transfer 
his army south of the James, and cut Lee's communications. Gregg 
was sent in advance, with the cavalry belonging to the Army of the 
Potomac, crossing the Chickahominy, and making a rapid movement by 
the left flank. 

Lee evidently did not mistrust Grant's intentions, — judging from 
the disposition he made of his troops, and the tardiness with which he 
marched to counteract the movement. The transfer of the Eighteenth 
Corps from Bermuda Hundred to Cold Harbour undoubtedly had its 
effect upon Lee's calculations. It was an indication that Grant intended 
to keep Washington covered. 

Hunter at this time was advancing from the West. Sheridan, who 
had been guarding the road to White House, was withdrawn, and sent 
with two divisions of his cavalry up the Virginia Central road to 
Gordonsville, hoping to meet Hunter at Charlottesville ; but Hunter had 
moved on Lynchburg, and the union of the forces was not effected. 
Sheridan's movement, however, threw dust in the eyes of Lee. 

Grant knew that Petersburg was held by a handful of troops, — 
Wise's Legion. The citizens had been organised into a battalion, but 
the place could be taken by surprise. Strong earthworks had been 
thrown up around the city early in the war. but the troops in the city 
were not sufficient to man them. Grant believed that the place could 
be seized without difficulty ; and taking a steamer at White House 



FROM COLD HARBOUR TO PETERSBURG. 381 

went to Bermuda Hundred, held a conference with Butler, who sent 
Gillmore with thirty-five hundred men across the Appomattox, near 
the Point of Rocks, to attack the city from the east. At the same time, 
Kautz's division of cavalry was sent, by a long detour, across the 
Norfolk Railroad, to enter the town from the south. Having made 
these arrangements, Grant returned to his army, which had been lying 
behind its entrenchments at Cold Harbour. 

Preparations had been quietly making for a rapid march. The Sec- 
ond Corps had been moved down towards the Chickahominy. The Fifth 
was sent to Despatch Station. Gregg and Torbett, with their divisions 
of cavalry, were placed at Bottom's Bridge. The enemy's pickets were 
there on watch. Meanwhile workmen were busily engaged in opening 
the railroad. Lee must have known that Grant had a new movement 
under way, the precise nature of which it was difficult to understand. 

In military affairs a commander must be resolute and aggressive at 
times. General Williams was detailed to execute a movement of vital 
importance. It seems probable that he had little comprehension of the 
greatness of the work assigned him. He crossed the Appomattox on 
the evening of the 10th of June, without molestation, marched up 
within sight of the city spires, discovered a formidable line of breast- 
works, and, without making an attack, turned about and retired to 
Bermuda Hundred. 

His force was sufficiently large to hold the city. He could have torn 
up the railroads to prevent the arrival of troops by rail. The Appomat- 
tox River would have protected him from Lee on the north, and there 
was no body of Confederates near at hand on the south to have molested 
him before the arrival of reinforcements. 

Kautz, on the contrary, after a rapid movement, entered the city from 
the south, but Gillmore having retreated, could not hold it, and was 
obliged to retire. 

Grant was justly indignant when he heard of the failure. It was a 
golden opportunity lost. Gillmore was wholly responsible for the 
failure. Grant once more hurried to Bermuda Hundred, to superin- 
tend in a second movement, leaving Meade to conduct the army from 
Cold Harbour to the James. 

The grand movement from the north of Richmond, by which the 
whole army was placed south of that city, was begun on the 12th, in 
the evening. Wilson's division of cavalry was thrown across the Chick- 
ahominy, and sent to seize "Long Bridge in White Oak Swamp. The 



382 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Fifth Corps followed. The Confederates struck the Fifth Corps in 
flank, but Crawford repulsed them. The Second Corps followed the 
Fifth. The Sixth and Ninth crossed at Jones's Bridge, while the fifty 
miles of wagon trains swung far to the east and crossed the swamp fif- 
teen miles below. Gregg covered the flank of the army with his cavalry, 
concealing the movement. The men had a hard time, being attacked 
constantly by the Confederate cavalry and infantry. It was of the 
utmost importance to Lee to know where Grant intended to strike, 
whether north of the James, by the Charles City and New Market roads, 
or across the James at Dutch Gap, joining his forces with Butler's, or 
whether his movement was directly upon Petersburg. 

Lee moved on the inner circle with great caution. 

The Eighteenth Corps took water transportation from White House, 
and arrived at Bermuda Hundred at midnight on the 14th. Grant was 
there. He ordered General Smith to proceed at once against Peters- 
burg. If successful in the seizure of that place, Lee would be com- 
pelled to leave Richmond. It was in the line of his direct communication 
with the South. Losing that place, he would have only the Danville 
road, and Grant would soon deprive him of that. The Appomattox 
would be Grant's line of defence. Seizing it, Grant could bide his time. 
He could become a patient watcher, and Lee would be a victim to 
circumstances. 

Grant was quick to see the advantages to be gained. Lee was slower 
in arriving at a perception of the fatal consequences to himself which 
would result from the loss of the place ; but when awakened to a sense 
of his danger, acted with great energy. On the other hand, Smith, who 
was entrusted with the execution of the enterprise, was dilatory in the 
execution. Birney in part is held responsible for the delay in the execu- 
tion of the order. 

" Push on and capture the place at all hazards ! You shall have the 
whole army to reinforce you," said Grant to Smith. Grant was in such 
haste to have Smith move, that he did not stop to write the order. He 
believed that Smith could reach Petersburg before Lee could make his 
detour through Richmond. 

A. P. Hill had already been thrown south of Richmond, and was in 
front of Butler. The scouts up the Appomattox reported the rumbling 
of heavy trains along the Richmond and Petersburg railroad. Lee was 
putting his troops into the cars. The dash of Kautz, and the movement 
of Gillmore up to the entrenchments, and his retirement without an 



FROM COLD HARBOUR TO PETERSBURG. 383 

attack, had resulted in the manning of the Petersburg batteries. A 
brigade had been thrown down towards City Point, five miles from 
Petersburg. Soon after daylight the cavalry came upon the Confeder- 
ate pickets, by the City Point railroad, beyond which they found two 
cannon behind rifle-pits, in the centre of an open field on Bailey's 
farm. 

Hinks's division of the Eighteenth Corps was composed of coloured 
troops, who had never been under fire. Would they fight ? That was 
the important question. After a reconnoissance of the position by Gen- 
eral Hinks, the troops were formed for an assault. The Confederate 
cannon opened. The sons of Africa did not flinch, but took their posi- 
tions with deliberation. They had been slaves ; they stood face to face 
with their former masters, or with their representatives. The flag in 
front of them waving in the morning breeze was the emblem of oppres- 
sion ; the banner above them was the flag of the free. Would an abject, 
servile race, kept in chains four thousand years, assert their manhood ? 
Interesting the problem. Their brothers had given the lie to the asser- 
tion of the white man, that negroes wouldn't fight, at Wagner and Port 
Hudson. Would they falter ? 

The Confederates were on a knoll in the field, and had a clear sweep 
of all the approaches. The advancing troops must come out from the 
woods, rush up the slope, and carry it at the point of the bayonet, receiv- 
ing the tempest of musketry and canister. 

Hinks deployed his line. At the word of command the coloured men 
stepped out from the woods, and stood before the enemy. They gave a 
volley, and received one in return. Shells crashed through them, but, 
unheeding the storm, with a yell they started up the slope upon the run. 
They received one charge of canister, one scathing volley of musketry. 
Seventy of their number went down, but the living hundreds rushed on. 

The Confederates did not wait their coming, but fled towards Peters- 
burg, leaving one of the pieces of artillery in the hands of their assail- 
ants, who leaped over the works, turned it in a twinkling, but were not 
able to fire upon the retreating foe fleeing in consternation towards the 
main line of entrenchment, two miles east of the city. 

The coloured troops were wild with joy. They embraced captured 
cannon with affectionate enthusiasm, patting it as if it were animate, and 
could appreciate the endearment. 

" Every soldier of the coloured division was two inches taller for that 
achievement," said an officer, describing it. These regiments were the 



3& 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



Fifth and Twenty - second United states coloured troops, who deserve 
honourable mention in history. 

Brooks's division now moved up. Martindale was approaching Peters- 




ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS, VICE-PRESIDENT C. S. A. 

burg by the river road. By noon the whole corps was in front of the 
main line of works. Martindale was on the right, by the river, Brooks 
in the centre, Hinks on the left, with Kautz's division of cavalry sweep- 



FROM COLD HARBOUR TO PETERSBURG. 385 

ing down to the Jerusalem road, which enters Petersburg from the 
southeast. 

Smith delayed unaccountably to make the attack. It was a priceless 
moment. A reconnoissance showed a line of strong works, in which 
were eighteen pieces of field artillery. The forts were well built, and 
connected with breastworks, but the rebels had not soldiers enough to 
man them. The citizens of Petersburg had been called out to hold the 
town. It is evident that Smith might just as well have accomplished 
at one o'clock what was achieved at sunset. He was a brave officer, 
fearless in battle, an engineer of ability, reckless of danger, but failed to 
see the necessity of impetuous action. The value of time was left out 
of his calculations. 

General Grant thus speaks of Smith's operations : 

" General Smith got off as directed, and confronted the enemy's pick- 
ets near Petersburg before daylight next morning, but for some reason 
that I have never been able to satisfactorily understand, did not get 
ready to assault his main lines until near sundown. Then, with a part 
of his command only, he made the assault, and carried the lines north- 
east of Petersburg from the Appomattox River, for a distance of over 
two and a half miles, capturing fifteen pieces of artillery and three 
hundred prisoners. This was about 7 p. m." 

The main road, leading east from Petersburg, ascends a hill two miles 
out, upon the top of which stands the house of Mr. Dunn. The house is 
a few rods south of the road. In front of it is a fort ; another south ; a 
third north, and other works, with heavy embankments and deep ditches. 
The woods in front of the house of Mr. Dunn were cut down in 1862, 
when McClellan was on the Peninsula, and the trunks of the trees, 
blackened by fire, are lying there still, forming an abatis. The ground 
is nearly level, and the Confederate riflemen have a' fair view of the 
entire field. It is three hundred and sixty paces from the forts to the 
woods, in the edge of which Hinks's division of coloured troops are 
lying. The guns in the forts by the house of Mr. Dunn give a direct 
front fire, while those by the house of Mr. Osborn on the north enfilade 
the line. Brooks is in position to move upon the batteries by Osborn's 
house, while Martindale is to advance up the railroad. 

The troops were placed in line for the attack not far from one o'clock. 
They were exposed to the fire of the artillery. Hinks impatiently 
waited for orders. Two o'clock passed. The shells from the Confeder- 
ate batteries were doing damage. 



386 THE BOYS OF '61. 

" Lie down ! " said he to his men. They obeyed, and were somewhat 
sheltered. 

Three o'clock ! four o'clock, — five, — still no orders. Duncan's brig- 
ade was lying on both sides of the road, a short distance north of 
Buffum's house. 

At length the word was given. Duncan threw forward a cloud of 
skirmishers. The Confederates opened with renewed vigour from the 
batteries ; and the infantry, resting their muskets over the breastworks, 
fired at will and with great accuracy of aim. Men dropped from the 
advancing ranks. It was of little use to fire in return. " On ! push 
on ! " was the order. Hinks and Duncan both entered heartily into the 
movement. They had chafed all the afternoon at the delay ; but had 
been admiring observers of the conduct of the troops under the fire of 
shells. 

The skirmishers advanced quickly within close range, followed by the 
main line, moving more slowly over the fallen timber. The skirmishers 
gave a yell and pushed on, without waiting for the main body. They 
leaped into the ditches in front of the breastworks, and climbed on their 
hands and knees up the steep embankments. The Confederates above 
fired into their faces, and many a brave fellow rolled back dead to the 
bottom. 

The column, perceiving the advance of their comrades, and catching 
the enthusiasm, broke into a run, rushing upon the forts, sweeping round 
the curtains, scaling the breastworks, and dashing madly at the enemy, 
who fled towards Petersburg. Brooks's men at the same moment 
swarmed over the embankments by Osborn's, while Martindale advanced 
along the railroad. Fifteen pieces and three hundred men were cap- 
tured, taken by the coloured troops, who wheeled the guns instantly 
upon the enemy, 'and then, seizing the spades and shovels which the 
Confederates had left behind, reversed the fortifications and made them 
a stronghold. 

Through the months which followed the coloured troops looked back 
to this exploit with pride. They were never weary of talking about it, 
— how they advanced, how they leaped over the entrenchments, how 
the enemy went down the hill upon the run. 

Smith had possession of the fortifications at 7 p. m. He ought to 
have moved on. There were no other works between him and Peters- 
burg. Not a brigade from Lee had reached the city, and the disaster 
was calculated to demoralise the rebel soldiers. The Second Corps had 



FROM COLD HARBOUR TO PETERSBURG. 387 

arrived. Birney, who had the advance of that corps, ought to have been 
on the ground by mid-afternoon, and Smith had delayed the assault on 
his account. He expected Birney to appear on his left, and attack by 
the Jerusalem plank road ; but that officer, by taking the wrong road, 
went several miles out of his way. Had he been in position at the time 
Smith expected him, the attack would have been made at 3 o'clock 
instead of at 7. 

Smith's delay to follow up the advantage gained was an error. Gen- 
eral Grant says : 

" Between the line thus captured and Petersburg there were no other 
works, and there was no evidence that the enemy had reinforced Peters- 
burg with a single brigade from any source. The night was clear, — 
the moon shining brightly, — and favourable to further operations. 
General Hancock, with two divisions of the Second Corps, had reached 
General Smith just after dark, and offered the service of these troops 
as he (Smith) might wish, waiving rank to the named commander, who, 
he naturally supposed, knew best the position of affairs. But instead 
of taking these troops and pushing on at once into Petersburg, he re- 
quested General Hancock to relieve a part of his line in the captured 
work, which was done before midnight." 

Not till the Confederate outpost on Bailey's farm fell into the hands 
of the coloured troops did Lee fully comprehend Grant's movement. 
Then there were lively movements in the Confederate ranks. All of 
the railroad cars in Richmond were put upon the road. Brigades were 
hurried through the streets, piled into the cars, and sent whirling 
towards Petersburg. 

While Lee was watching the Charles City and New Market roads, 
north of the James, expecting Grant in that direction, Butler sent Gen- 
eral Terry, with a portion of the Tenth Corps, on a reconnoissance in 
front of Bermuda Hundred. Terry encountered the enemy's pickets, 
drove them in, reached the main line, attacked vigorously, broke 
through, carrying all before him, and pushed on to the railroad at 
Port Walthall Junction, cut down the telegraph, and tore up the track. 

This was an advantage not expected by Grant, who at once ordered 
two divisions of the Sixth Corps, under Wright, to report to Butler at 
Bermuda Hundred ; but that officer, instead of moving rapidly, ad- 
vanced leisurely, and even halted awhile. 

Terry was attacked by A. P. Hill and obliged to fall back. Grant 
had the mortification of learning in the evening that, through the dila- 



388 THE BOYS OF '61. 

tory movements of the troops under Smith and Wright, his plans had 
failed. 

In the counsels of the Almighty the time for final victory had not 
come. God reigns, but men act freely, nevertheless. There have been 
numerous instances during the war where great events hung on little 
things. An interesting chapter might be written of the occasions where 
the scales were seemingly evenly balanced, and where, to the eye of 
faith, the breath of the Almighty turned them for the time. 

At Bull Run the victory was lost to the Union arms through the mis- 
take of Major Barry. At Pittsburg Landing, if Johnston had attacked 
from the northwest instead of the southwest, — if he had deflected his 
army a mile, — far different, in all human probability, would have been 
the result of that battle. 

Was the arrival of the Monitor in Hampton Roads, on that morning 
after the havoc made by the Merrimao, accidental ? How providential 
rather ! How singular, if not a providence, that the wind should blow 
so wildly from the southwest on that night of the withdrawal of the 
army from Fredericksburg, wafting the rumbling of Burnside's artillery 
and the tramp of a hundred thousand men away from the listening ears 
of the enemy within close musket-shot ! Events which turn the scales 
according to our desires we are inclined to count as special providences ; 
but the disaster at Bull Run ; the sitting down of McClellan in the mud 
at Yorktown ; the lost opportunities for moving upon Richmond after 
Williamsburg and Fair Oaks ; also, while the battle was raging at 
Gaines's Mills and at Glendale ; the pusillanimous retreat from Mal- 
vern ; the inaction at Antietam ; Hooker's retreat from Chancellorsville, 
— from Lee, who also was in retreat, — are inexplicable events. Meade's 
waiting at Boonsboro, Lee's escape, Gillmore's unexplained turning back 
from Petersburg, Wright's halting when everything depended on haste, 
Smith's delay, — all of these are mysterious providences to us, though to 
the rebels they were at the time plain interpositions of God. God's 
system is reciprocal ; everything has its use, everything is for a purpose. 
We read blindly, but to reason and faith there can be but one result, — 
the establishment of justice and righteousness between man and man 
and his Maker. There must be a righting of every wrong, an atone- 
ment for every crime. 

" The laws of changeless justice hind 
Oppressor with oppressed ; 
And, close as sin and suffering joined, 
We inarch to fate ahreast." 



FROM COLD HARBOUR TO PETERSBURG. 389 

It must have been evident to most observers, that, as the war pro- 
gressed, men were brought to a recognition of God as an overruling 
power in the mighty conflict. In the first uprising of the people there 
was pure, intense patriotism. The battle of Bull Run stung the loyal 
masses of the North, and filled them with a determination to redeem 
their tarnished honour. The failure of the Peninsular campaigns, the 
terrible disasters in 1862, crushed and bruised men's spirits. They 
began to talk of giving freedom to the slave as well as of the restoration 
of the Union. 

" My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save 
or destroy slavery," wrote President Lincoln to Horace Greeley, 
August 22, 1862, reflecting, doubtless, the feelings of nearly a 
majority of the people. 

Two years passed, and Abraham Lincoln gave utterance to other 
sentiments in his second inaugural address to the people. Disaster, 
suffering, a view of Gettysburg battle-field, the consecration of that 
cemetery as the hallowed resting-place of the patriotic dead, had given 
him a clear insight of God's truth. Thus spoke he from the steps 
of the Capitol : 

" The Almighty has His own purposes. Woe unto the world because 
of offences ! for it must needs be that offences come ; but woe to that 
man by whom the offence cometh ! If we shall suppose that American 
slavery is one of these offences, which in the providence of God must 
needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, 
He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this 
terrible war as the war due to those by whom the offence came, shall we 
discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the 
believers in a living God always ascribe to Him ? Fondly do we hope, 
fervently do we pray, that the mighty scourge of war may speedily pass 
away. Yet if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by 
the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be 
sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid 
by another drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, 
so still must it be said, the judgments of the Lord are true and 
righteous altogether." 

It was the recognition of these principles that made the people 
patient under the severe afflictions, the disasters, the failures. Fathers 
and mothers, weeping for their sons slain in battle, said to their hearts, 
" Be still ! " for they saw that God was leading the people, through 



390 THE BOYS OF '61. 

suffering, to recognise justice and righteousness as the Republic, — that 
thus he was saving the nation from perdition. 

The heroism of the coloured soldiers, and their splendid achievements, 
won the respect of the army. Their patriotism was as sublime, their 
courage as noble, as that of their whiter-hued comrades boasting Anglo- 
Saxon blood, nurtured and refined by centuries of civilisation. 

On the morning after the battle, an officer, passing through the hospital, 
came upon a coloured soldier who had lost his left leg. 

" Well, my boy, I see that you have lost a leg for glory," said the 
officer. 

"iVb, sir ; I have not lost it for glory, but for the elevation of my 



race 



/" 



It was a reply worthy of historic record, to be read, through the 
coming century, by every sable son of Africa, and by every man, of 
whatever lineage or clime, struggling to better his condition. 

The negroes manifested their humanity as well as their patriotism. 

" While the battle was raging," said General Hinks, " I saw two 
wounded negroes helping a rebel prisoner, who was more severely 
wounded, to the rear." 

The time will come when men will be rated for what they are worth, 
when superiority will consist, not in brute force, but in moral qualities. 
The, slaveholders of the South, at the beginning of the war, esteemed 
themselves superior to the men of the North, and immeasurably above 
their slaves ; but in contrast, — to the shame of the slaveholders, — 
stands the massacre at Fort Pillow and the humanity of the coloured 
soldiers in front of Petersburg. 

On the night of the 16th, Burnside arrived with the Ninth Corps. 
Neill's division of the Sixth also arrived. Burnside attacked, but was 
repulsed. The lines were reconnoitred, and it was determined to make 
a second assault. 

About half a mile south of the house of Mr. Dunn was the residence 
of Mr. Shand, held by the enemy. During the cannonade which pre- 
ceded the assault, a Confederate officer entered the house and sat down 
to play a piano. Suddenly he found himself sitting on the floor, the 
stool having been knocked away by a solid shot, without injury to 
himself. 

The house was a large two -story structure, fronting east, painted 
white, with great chimneys at either end, shaded by buttonwoods and 
gum-trees, with a peach orchard in rear. Fifty paces from the front 



FROM COLD HARBOUR TO PETERSBURG. 391 

door was a narrow ravine, fifteen or twenty feet deep, with a brook, fed 
by springs, trickling northward. West of the house, about the same 
distance, was another brook, the two joining about twenty rods north of 
the house. A brigade held this tongue of land, with four guns beneath 
the peach-trees. Their main line of breastworks was along the edge of 
the ravine east of the house. South, and on higher ground, was a 
redan, a strong work with two guns, which enfiladed the ravine. Yet 
General Burnside thought that if he could get his troops into position, 
unperceived, he could take the tongue of land, which would break the 
enemy's line and compel them to evacuate the redan. Several attempts 
had been made by the Second Corps to break the line farther north, but 
without avail. This movement, if not successful, would be attended 
with great loss ; nevertheless, it was determined to make the assault. 

It was past midnight when General Potter led his division of the 
Ninth down into the ravine. The soldiers threw aside their knapsacks, 
haversacks, tin plates, and cups, and moved stealthily. Not a word was 
spoken. The watches of the officers in command had been set to a 
second. They reached the ravine where the pickets were stationed, and 
moved south, keeping close under the bank. Above them, not fifteen 
paces distant, were the Confederate pickets, lying behind a bank of sand. 

If their listening ears caught the sound of a movement in the ravine, 
they gave no alarm, and the troops took their positions undisturbed. 
The moon was full. Light clouds floated in the sky. Not a sound, save 
the distant rumble of wagons, or an occasional shot from the pickets, 
broke the silence of the night. The attacking column was composed of 
Griffin's and Curtin's brigades, — Griffin on the right. He had the 
Seventeenth Vermont and Eleventh New Hampshire in his front line, 
and the Ninth New Hampshire and Thirty-second Maine in the second. 
Curtin had six regiments, — the Thirty-sixth Massachusetts, and the 
Forty-fifth and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, in his front line ; the Seventh 
Rhode Island, Twelfth New York, and Fifty-eighth Massachusetts in his 
second line. 

The soldiers were worn with hard marching and constant fighting, 
and had but just arrived from City Point, yet they took their positions 
without flinching. The officers gazed at the hands of their watches in 
the moonlight, and saw them move on to the appointed time, — fifteen 
minutes past three. Twenty paces, — a spring up the steep bank would 
carry the men to the pickets ; fifty paces to the muzzles of the enemy's 
guns. 



392 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



" All ready ! " was whispered from man to man. They rose from the 
ground erect. Not a gun-lock clicked. The bayonet was to do the 
work. 

"Hurrah!" The lines rise like waves of the sea. There are strag- 
gling shots from the pickets, four flashes of light from the cannon by 
the house, two more from the redan, one volley from the infantry, wildly 
aimed, doing little damage. On, — up to the breastworks ! Over them, 

seizing the guns! A minute has 
passed. Four guns, six hundred 
and fifty prisoners, fifteen hundred 
muskets, and four stands of colours 
are the trophies. The enemy's line 
is broken. The great point is gained, 
compelling Lee to abandon the 
ground which he has held so tena- 
ciously. 

In the Fifty-seventh Massachusetts 
was a soldier named Edward M. 
Schneider. When the regiment was 
formed he was a student in Phillips 
Academy, Andover. From motives 
of patriotism, against the wishes of friends, he left the literature of the 
ancients and the history of the past, to become an actor in the present 
and to do what he could for future good. His father is the well-known 
missionary of the American Board at Aintab, Turkey. 

On the march from Annapolis, though but seventeen years old, and 
unaccustomed to hardship, he kept his place in the ranks, from the 
encampment by the waters of the Chesapeake to the North Anna, where 
he was slightly wounded. The surgeons sent him to Washington, but 
of his own accord he returned to his regiment, joining it at Cold Har- 
bour. While preparing for the charge upon the enemy's works, on the 
17th instant, he said to the chaplain: 

"I intend to be the first one to enter their breastworks." 
The brave young soldier tried to make good his words, leading the 
charge. 

He was almost there, — not quite ; almost near enough to feel the hot 
flash of the rebel musketry in his face ; near enough to be covered with 
sulphurous clouds from the cannon, when he fell, shot through the 
body. 




FROM COLD HARBOUR TO PETERSBURG. 393 

He was carried to the hospital, with six hundred and fifty of his 
division comrades ; but lay all night with his wound undressed, waiting 
his turn without a murmur. The chaplain looked at his wound. 

" What do you think of it?" 

Seeing that it was mortal, the chaplain was overcome with emotion. 
He remembered the last injunction of the young soldier's sister: "I 
commit him to your care." 

The young hero interpreted the meaning of the tears, — that there 
was no hope. 

" Do not weep," said he ; " it is God's will. I wish you to write to 
my father, and tell him that I have tried to do my duty to my country 
and to God." 

He disposed of his few effects, giving ten dollars to the Christian 
Commission, twenty dollars to the American Board, and trifles to his 
friends. Then, in the simplicity of his heart, said : 

"I have a good many friends, schoolmates, and companions. They 
will want to know where I am, — how I am getting on. You can let 
them know that I am gone, and that I die content. And, chaplain, the 
boys in the regiment, — I want you to tell them to stand by the dear 
old flag ! And there is my brother in the navy, — write to him and tell 
him to stand by the flag and cling to the cross of Christ ! " 

The surgeon examined the wound. 

" It is my duty to tell you that you will soon go home," said he. 

" Yes, doctor, I am going home. I am not afraid to die. I don't 
know how the valley will be when I get to it, but it is all bright now." 

Then, gathering up his waning strength, he repeated the verse often 
sung by the soldiers, who, amid all the whirl and excitement of the 
camp and battle-field, never forget those whom they have left behind 
them, — mother, sister, father, brother. Calmly, clearly, distinctly he 
repeated the lines, — the chorus of the song : 

" Soon with angels I '11 be marching, 
With bright laurels on my brow ; 
I have for my country fallen, — 
Who will care for sister now ? " 

The night wore away. Death stole on. He suffered intense pain, but 
not a murmur escaped his lips. Sabbath morning dawned, and with the 
coming of the light he passed away. 

" I die content," said Wolfe, at Quebec, when told that the French 
were fleeing. 



394 THE BOYS OF '61. 

" Stand up for Jesus," said Rev. Dudley Tyng, of New York, in his 
last hours ; words which have warmed and moved thousands of Christian 
hearts. 

" Let me die with my face to the enemy," was the last request of 
General Rice, Christian, soldier, and patriot, at Spottsylvania ; but 
equally worthy of remembrance are the words of Edward M. Schneider, 
— boy, student, youthful leader of the desperate charge at Petersburg. 
They are the essence of all that Wolfe and Tyng and Rice uttered in 
their last moments. His grave is near the roadside, marked by a rude 
paling. The summer breeze sweeps through the sighing pines above the 
heaved-up mound. Mournful, yet sweet, the music of the wind-harp, — 
mournful, in that one so young, so full of life and hope and promise, 
should go so soon ; sweet, in that he did his work so nobly. Had he 
lived a century he could not have completed it more thoroughly or faith- 
fully. His was a short soldier's life, extending only from the peaceful 
shades of Andover to the entrenchments of Petersburg ; but oh, how 
full ! 

Will the tree of Liberty prematurely decay, if nourished by such life- 
giving blood ? It is costly, but the fruit is precious. For pain and 
anguish, waste and desolation, we have such rich recompense as this, — 
such examples of patriotic ardour, heroic daring, and Christian forti- 
tude, that make men nobler, nations greater, and the world better by 
their contemplation. 

I have stood by the honoured dust of those whose names are great in 
history, whose deeds and virtues are commemorated in brass and marble, 
who were venerated while living and mourned when dead ; but never 
have I felt a profounder reverence for departed worth than for this 
young Christian soldier, uncoffined, unshrouded, wrapped only in his 
blanket, and sleeping serenely beneath the evergreen pines. 

His last words — the messages to his comrades, to his father, and his 
brother — are worthy to live so long as the flag of our country shall 
wave or the cross of Christ endure. 

" Stand up for the dear old flag and cling to the cross of Christ ! " 
They are the emblems of all our hopes for time and eternity. Short, 
full, rounded, complete was his life. Triumphant and glorious his 
death ! 

Grant determined to assault all along the line on the morning of the 
18th, as nearly the entire army had arrived. Lee, however, fell back 
during the night to a new position nearer the city. 



FROM COLD HARBOUR TO PETERSBURG. 



395 




But the attack was made. The Eighteenth, Second, and Sixth Corps 
gained no advantage ; but the Ninth and Fifth drove the rebels across 
the Norfolk Railroad, and reached the Jerusalem plank road. The posi- 
tion of the besieging army is shown by the accompanying diagram : 

On the 21st of June Grant attempted to 
take the Weldon Railroad with the Second and 
Sixth Corps, but was opposed by the rebels on 
Davis's farm, beyond the Jerusalem road, and 
a battle ensued. 

The engagement was renewed the next day. 
There was a gap in the lines, of which A. P. 
Hill took advantage, and attacked Barlow's 
division in flank. A severe struggle followed, 
in which Gibbon's division lost four guns. The 
battle was continued on the 23d, but no farther progress was made. 
The troops had been fighting, marching, or building breastworks for 
forty-seven days, without interruption. Daily and nightly, from the 
Rapidan to the Weldon road, they had been in constant action. The 
troops were exhausted. Grant had lost seventy thousand. We are 
not to think of that number as having been killed and wounded, but 
those who had broken down under the hardships, and were unfit for duty. 

The reinforcements which had reached him were inexperienced. Men 
when physically prostrated are indifferent to commands. Discipline 
becomes lax. Hundreds of efficient officers had fallen during the cam- 
paign. Brigades were commanded by majors, regiments by captains, 
companies by corporals. The army needed thorough reorganisation. 
The right of the line was sufficiently near to Petersburg to commence 
siege operations. Entrenchments were accordingly thrown up and guns 
mounted, and the army enjoyed comparative rest. But it was a rest 
under fire, day and night, the Ninth and Eighteenth Corps especially 
being constantly harassed by the enemy, who were bitterly opposed to 
the employment of coloured troops. It was systematic hostility, — in 
grained, revengeful, relentless. They would not recognise or treat them 
as prisoners of war. Slavery long before had proclaimed that black 
men had no rights which white men were bound to respect. For them 
was no mercy ; only the fate of their compatriots at Fort Pillow awaited 
them, if taken in arms against their former masters, though wearing the 
uniform of the republic which had given them freedom and sent them to 
battle. 



396 THE BOYS OF '61. 

There was a tacit understanding between the soldiers of the Fifth and 
the enemy in front of them that there should be no picket-firing. They 
filled their canteens at the same spring, and had friendly conversations. 
But not so in front of the Ninth, in which thirty were wounded or killed 
every twenty-four hours. Such was the unnecessary sacrifice of life to 
this Moloch of our generation ! There were those in the army, as well 
as out of it, who were not willing that the coloured soldier should be 
recognised as a man. 

" The negroes ought not to be allowed to fight," said a Massachusetts 
captain to me. 

" Why not, sir ? " 

" Because the Confederates hate us for making them soldiers," was 
the reply ; and adding, dubiously, " I don't know but that the negroes 
have souls ; but 1 look upon them as a lower order of beings than our- 
selves." 

The old prejudice remained. We were not willing to deal fairly. 
We asked the negro to help fight our battles, but we were willing to pay 
him only half a soldier's wages, as if we feared this simple act of justice 
might be construed as an acknowledgment of his social as well as civil 
equality. 

Through all the weary months of fighting and exposure the wants of 
the soldiers were greatly relieved by the Sanitary and Christian Com- 
missions. The warm-hearted people in the North never ceased their 
contributions. The machinery of both those excellent organisations was 
so perfect that the soldiers had quick relief. 

The power of any force — moral and religious as well as mechanical 
— is in proportion to the directness of its application. I recall, in this 
connection, a hot, dry, sultry day. The sun shone from a brazen sky. 
The grass and shrubs were scorched, withered, and powdered with dust, 
which rose in clouds behind every passing wagon. Even the aspens 
were motionless, and there was not air enough to stir the long, lithe 
needles of the pines. The birds of the forest sought the deepest shade, 
and hushed even their twitter. It was difficult for men in robust health 
to breathe, and they picked out the coolest places and gave themselves 
up to the languor of the hour. It required an earnest effort to do any- 
thing. Yet through this blazing day men crouched in the trenches from 
morning till night, or lay in their shallow rifle-pits, watching the enemy, 
— parched, broiled, burned, not daring to raise their heads or lift their 
hands. To do so was to suffer death or wounds. 



FROM COLD HARBOUR TO PETERSBURG. 397 

The hospital tents, though pitched in the woods, were like ovens, 
absorbing and holding the heat of the sun, whose rays the branches of 
the trees but partially excluded. Upon the ground lay the sick and 
wounded, fevered and sore, with energies exhausted, perspiration oozing 
from their faces, nerves quivering and trembling, pulses faint and feeble, 
and life ebbing away. Their beds were pine boughs. They lay as they 
came from the battle-field, wearing their soiled, torn, and bloody gar- 
ments, and tantalised by myriads of flies. 

The surgeons in charge were kind-hearted and attentive. They used 
all means in their power to make their patients comfortable. Was this 
the place where the sick were to regain their health, far from home and 
friends ! With nothing to cheer them, hope was dying out, and de- 
spondency setting in ; and memory, ever busy, was picturing the dear 
old home scenes, so painfully in contrast with their dismal present. 

It was the Sabbath, and there were many among the suffering thou- 
sands who had been accustomed to observe the day as one of worship 
and rest from toil and care. In imagination they heard the pealing of 
church-bells, the grand and solemn music of the organ, or the hum of 
children's voices in the Sabbath school. 

There were no clouds to shut out the sun, but the brazen dome of the 
sky glowed with steady heat. The Christian Commission tent had been 
besieged all day by soldiers, who wanted onions, pickles, lemons, oranges, 
— anything sour, anything to tempt the taste. A box of oranges had 
been brought from City Point the night before. It was suggested that 
they be distributed at once to the sick and wounded. " Certainly, by all 
means," was the unanimous voice of the Commission. I volunteered to 
be the distributor. 

Go with me through the tents of the sufferers. Some are lying down, 
with eyes closed, faces pale, and cheeks sunken. The paleness underlies 
the bronze which the sun has burned upon them. Some are half reclin- 
ing on their elbows, bolstered by knapsacks, and looking into vacancy, 
— thinking, perhaps, of home and kin, and wondering if they will ever 
see them again. 

Others are reading papers which delegates of the Commission have 
distributed. Some of the poor fellows have but one leg ; others but the 
stump of a thigh or an arm, with the lightest possible dressing, to keep 
down the fever. Yesterday those men, in the full tide of life, stood in 
the trenches confronting the enemy. Now they are shattered wrecks, 
having, perhaps, wife and children or parents dependent upon them ; 



398 THE BOYS OF '61. 

with no certainty of support for themselves, even, but the small bounty of 
Government, which they have earned at such fearful sacrifice. But their 
future will be brightened with the proud consciousness of duty done and 
country saved, — the surviving soldier's chief recompense for all the toil 
and suffering and privation of the camp and field. 

As we enter the tent they catch a sight of the golden fruit. There is 
a commotion. Those half asleep rub their eyes, those partially reclining 
sit up, those lying with their backs toward us turn over to see what is 
going on, those so feeble that they cannot move ask what is the matter. 
They gaze wistfully at our luscious burden. Their eyes gleam, but not 
one of them asks for an orange. They wait. Through the stern disci- 
pline of war they have learned to be patient, to endure, to remain in sus- 
pense, to stand still and be torn to pieces. They are true heroes ! 

" Would you like an orange, sir ? " 

" Thank you." 

It is all he can say. He is lying upon his back. A minie bullet 
has passed through his body, and he cannot be moved. He has a noble 
brow, a manly countenance. Tears moisten his eyes and roll down his 
sunken cheeks as he takes it from my hand. 

" It is a gift of the Christian Commission, and I accept your thanks 
for those who made the contribution." 

" Bully for the Christian Commission," shouts a wide-awake, jolly 
soldier, near by, with an ugly wound in his left arm. 

" Thank you," " God bless the Commission," " I say, Bill, are n't they 
bully ? " are the expressions I hear behind me. 

In one of the wards I came upon a soldier who had lost his leg the 
day before. He was lying upon his side ; he was robust, healthy, strong, 
and brave. The hours dragged heavily. I stood before him, and yet 
he did not see me. He was stabbing his knife into a chip, with nervous 
energy, trying to forget the pain, to bridge over the lonely hours, and 
shut the gloom out of the future. I touched his elbow ; he looked up. 

" Would you like an orange ? " 

" By jingo ! that is worth a hundred dollars ! " 

He grasped it as a drowning man clutches a chip. 

" Where did this come from ? " 

" The Christian Commission had a box arrive last night." 

" The Christian Commission ? My wife belongs to that. She wrote 
to me about it last week, — that they met to make shirts for the Com- 
mission." 



FROM COLD HARBOUR TO PETERSBURG. 399 

" Then you have a wife ? " 

" Yes, sir, and three children." 

His voice faltered. Ah ! the soldier never forgets home. He dashed 
away a tear, took in a long breath, and was strong again. 

" Where do you hail from, soldier? " 

"From old Massachusetts. I had a snug little home upon the banks 
of the Connecticut ; but I told my wife that I did n't feel just right to 
stay there, when I was needed out here, and so I came, and here I am. 
I shall write home and tell Mary about the Christian Commission. I 
have been wishing all day that I had an orange ; I knew it was no use 
to wish. I did n't suppose there was one in camp ; besides, here I am, 
not able to move a peg. I thank you, sir, for bringing it. I shall tell 
my wife all about it." 

These expressions of gratitude were not indifferent utterances of 
courtesy, but came from full hearts. Those sunburned sufferers recog- 
nised the religion of Jesus in the gift. The Christian religion, thus 
exemplified, was not a cold abstraction, but a reality, providing for the 
health of the body as well as the soul. It was easy to converse with 
those men concerning their eternal well-being. They could not oppose a 
Christianity that manifested such regard for their bodily comfort. Such 
a religion commended itself to their hearts and understandings. Thus 
the Commission became a great missionary enterprise. Farina, oranges, 
lemons, onions, pickles, comfort - bags, shirts, towels, given and dis- 
tributed in the name of Jesus, though designed for the body, gave 
strength to the soul. To the quickened senses of a wounded soldier, 
parched with fever, far from home and friends, an onion was a stronger 
argument for the religion which bestowed it than the subtle reasoning of 
Renan, and a pickle sharper than the keenest logic of Colenso ! 

Visiting Washington one day, I passed through several of the hospi- 
tals, and was present when the delegates came to the headquarters of the 
Commission and narrated their experiences of the day. About fifty 
were present. Their work was washing and dressing wounds, aiding the 
sick and wounded in every way possible, distributing reading matter, 
writing letters for those unable to write, with religious exercises and 
conversation. No delegate was allowed to give jellies or wines as food, 
or to hold meetings in any ward, without permission of the surgeon in 
charge, which usually was granted. It was a rule of the Commission, 
and not of the Medical Department. The design was to do everything 
possible for the good of the men, and nothing for their hurt. One 



400 THE BOYS OF '61. 

delegate said that he found fully one-third of the men in his ward 
were Christians. They were glad to see him, and rejoiced in their 
religious reading. 

A chaplain asked one of the men if he were a Christian. 

" No," he replied, " but I have a sister who wrote to me the other day 
that she wanted to be one, and I wrote back that I wanted her to be 
one ; and I guess everybody who believes the Bible feels about so. If 
they ain't good themselves they want their friends to be." 

One of the wounded men sitting up in bed was writing a letter home, 
upon a bit of paper, and the chaplain gave him a full sheet and envelope. 

" Are you a Christian Commission man ? " he asked. 

" Yes," said the chaplain. 

" You are a d good set of fellows." 

" Hold on, soldier, not quite so hard." 

" I beg your pardon, chaplain, I did n't mean to swear, but, darn it 
all, I have got into the habit out here in the army, and it comes right 
out before 1 think. " 

" Won't you try to leave it off ? " 

" Yes, chaplain, I will." 

One just returned from the army at Petersburg, said : " I came 
across a drummer-boy of one of the Massachusetts regiments, a member 
of the Sabbath school at home, who lost his Bible during the campaign, 
but he has written the heads of his drum all over with texts of Scripture, 
from memory. He beats a Gospel drum. " 



CHAPTER XX. 

SIEGE OPERATIONS. 

THE Norfolk Railroad enters Petersburg through a ravine. In the 
attack upon the enemy's lines, on the 18th of June, the hollow 
was gained and held by Burnside's troops, their most advanced position 
being about four hundred feet from the Confederate line. 

Lieutenant- Colonel Henry Pleasants, commanding the Forty-eighth 
Pennsylvania Regiment, a practical miner, conceived the idea of exca- 
vating a tunnel under the works and exploding a mine. He submitted 
the plan to Burnside, who approved it. General Meade said it could 
not be done. Major Duane, of the engineers, laughed at the idea. 
Other officers, of high rank, scouted the project. Colonel Pleasants was 
fully convinced of its practicability, and set his men to work. 

He made application at headquarters for a theodolite to make a 
triangulation of the distance, but was refused its use. He was obliged 
to send to Washington to obtain one. No facilities were granted him. 
He could neither obtain boards, lumber, or mining -picks. But his 
regiment, numbering four hundred men, were mostly miners, and he 
was confident of success. Work was accordingly commenced on the 
25th of June, at noon. No wheelbarrows being provided, the men were 
obliged to make hand-barrows of cracker boxes. But they were at home 
in the earth, and not easily discouraged by difficulties or want of proper 
tools to work with, and pushed forward the gallery, which was about 
four and a half feet high and the same in width, with great zeal. The 
earth brought out was covered with bushes, to conceal it from the 
enemy, who, by its fresh appearance, might suspect where the mine was 
being sunk, as it was known throughout the army that mining opera- 
tions had been commenced, and the Confederates had heard of it. The 
Richmond papers published the news, and it was heralded through the 
North. 

At every discharge of the Confederate artillery there was danger of 
the caving in of the earth ; but Pleasant's daring burrowers crept 
steadily forward, till the noise overhead, as well as previous measure- 

401 



402 THE BOYS OF '61. 

ments, convinced them that they were immediately under the works. 
The main gallery was five hundred and ten feet in length, beside which 
were two lateral galleries, one thirty-seven and the other thirty-eight 
feet in length. 

A short distance from the entrance, inside of the Union fortifications, 
a vertical shaft was sunk, in which a fire was kept constantly burning, 
to produce ventilation. Eight magazines were placed in the lateral 
galleries, charged with four tons of powder, strongly tamped, and con- 
nected by fuses. The mine was completed on the 23d of July. 

Grant planned an assault upon the enemy, independently of the 
explosion of the mine. He sent two divisions of the Second Corps, 
with two divisions of Sheridan's cavalry, to the Army of the James, at 
Deep Bottom, where an attack was made, four guns captured, and the 
line extended from Deep Bottom to the New Market road. Lee 
attempted to recover his lost ground, but failed. Grant, in this expe- 
dition, employed an immense train of empty baggage-wagons, which, 
passing in sight of the Confederate pickets, made the movement an 
enigma to Lee. The soldiers in the fortifications had commenced a 
counter-mine, but suspended labour. 

General Burnside wished that the coloured troops of his division, 
under General Ferrero, should lead in the assault after the mine was 
exploded ; and the troops were drilled with that special object in view. 
He believed that they would make a successful charge. They were 
fresh, had taken but little part in the campaign, and were desirous of 
emulating the example of their comrades of the Eighteenth Corps. 
The white troops were worn with hard marching, fighting, and exposure 
in the trenches in front of Petersburg, where they had been on the 
watch day and night. The lines were so near that a man could not 
show his head above the parapet without being shot. They had 
acquired the habit of taking their positions by covered approaches, and 
had lost the resolute confidence and fearlessness manifested at the 
beginning of the campaigns. 

General Meade objected to Burnside's plan. 

" I objected," says Meade, " not that I had any reason to believe that 
the coloured troops would not do their duty as well as the white troops, 
but that they were a new division, and had never been under fire, had 
never been tried, and, as this was an operation which I knew beforehand 
was one requiring the very best troops, 1 thought it impolitic to trust to 
a division of whose reliability we had no evidence." 






SIEGE OPERATIONS. 



403 




MAP OF RICHMOND AND PETERSBURG. 



The matter was referred to General Grant, who says : 
" General Burnside wanted to put his coloured division in front, and 
I believe if he had done so it would have been a success. Still I agreed 
with General Meade in his objections to the plan. General Meade said 



404 THE BOYS OF '61. 

that if we put the coloured troops in front (we had only one division), 
and it should prove a failure, it would then be said, probably, that we 
were shoving those people ahead to get killed, because we did not care 
anything about them. But that could not be said if we put white troops 
in front." 

General Burnside had three divisions of white troops ; as there were 
reasons for assigning either of the divisions to lead the assault, lots 
were cast, and the duty fell upon General Ledlie. 

Burnside was directed by Meade to form his troops during the night, 
and be ready to assault at daylight on the 30th. His pioneers were to 
be equipped to destroy the enemy's abatis. Entrenching tools were pro- 
vided, so that if successful in breaking the enemy's lines, the position 
might be quickly secured. 

Portions of the Fifth and the Eighteenth Corps were brought up to 
support the Ninth. 

The field artillery was to be harnessed for immediate use. The siege 
artillery was to open a heavy fire. The Second Corps, at Deep Bottom, 
was to move to the rear of the Eighteenth, and be ready for any emer- 
gency. Sheridan, with the cavalry, was ordered to attack south and 
east of Petersburg. The engineers were to have sandbags, gabions, 
and fascines in readiness. The mine was to be fired at half-past three, 
and simultaneously with the explosion the assaulting column was to 
rush into the gap. 

" Promptitude, rapidity of execution, and cordial cooperation are 
essential to success," wrote General Meade, in his concluding orders. 

The movements and preparations were completed before three o'clock. 
The moon was shining brightly, but the rebels made no discovery of the 
change of position and massing of troops in rear of the Ninth Corps. 
The heights near the hospitals were covered with teamsters, ambulance 
drivers, surgeons, and civilians, waiting with intense interest for the 
expected upheaval. 

Half-past three came, and the fuse was lighted. A stream of fire ran 
quickly along the gallery, but no explosion followed. Had the fuse 
failed ? Lieutenant Douty and Sergeant Reese went boldly in to ascer- 
tain", and found the fire had gone out one hundred feet from the entrance. 
The fuse was relighted, but it was almost five o'clock, and the anxious 
spectators began to speculate as to the cause of delay. 

Grant and Meade were at the front. The troops thought the whole 
thing a failure, and began to ridicule the Pennsylvania miners. 







EXPI 



OSION OF THE MINE. 



SIEGE OPERATIONS. 407 

Fleming's brigade, composed of the Seventh, Eighteenth, and Twenty- 
second North Carolinians, was asleep over the mine. The pickets only 
were awake. Pegram's battery was also in the redoubt. 

Finally there came a trembling of the earth, then a bursting forth of 
volcanic flames and rolling up of dense clouds of smoke. A mountain 
of rubbish rose in the air. Earth, men, planks, timbers, cannon, shot 
and shell, were hurled upward and outward! The sight was terribly 
grand. To add to the frightfulness of the eruption and the grandeur 
of the spectacle, one hundred guns instantly belched forth their thunders. 
The Confederates were surprised and panic-stricken for the moment, and 
ran to escape the falling earth and timbers, leaving their artillery silent. 
A huge gap had been made in the works, four or five hundred feet in 
length and twenty feet in depth. 

Success depended upon the immediate occupation of the breach. Ten 
minutes passed before Ledlie moved, and then he only advanced to the 
crater. The rebels offered no opposition. The important point to be 
gained and held was a ridge four hundred yards beyond. Ledlie still 
halted in the excavation. Wilcox and Potter soon followed him, and 
the three divisions became intermixed, and general confusion prevailed. 
An hour of precious time was lost. Ledlie made no attempt to move in 
or out, and Potter and Wilcox could not go forward while he blocked 
the way. 

The enemy gradually recovered from their stupor, and began to fire 
from the hills, and batteries of artillery were brought up on the right 
and left to enfilade the crater ; but not a cannon-shot was fired by the 
Confederate artillery till after seven o'clock. The supporting brigades 
meanwhile were crowding upon those in front. The coloured troops 
were ordered forward. They also entered the crater, which only added 
to the confusion. 

Potter succeeded in freeing his troops from Ledlie's, and pushed on 
toward the crest, but, being unsupported, he was obliged to retire, 
driven back by the canister which the enemy poured into his ranks from 
the new position they had taken on Cemetery Hill. Eight, nine, ten 
o'clock passed ; their batteries were throwing a concentrated fire of 
shells and solid shot into the mingled human mass. Mahone's and 
Ransom's divisions of infantry were hurried to the top of the ridge, 
and mortars were brought into play, and the crater became a terrible 
scene of slaughter. Meade, seeing that further attempt to take the 
ridge would be not only useless, but a waste of life, permitted Burnside 



408 THE BOYS OF '61. 

to withdraw his troops at discretion. Yet to retire was to run the 
gauntlet of almost certain death. The space between the abyss and 
Burnside's breastworks was swept by a cross-fire from the enemy's 
artillery and infantry. To remain in the crater was sure destruction ; 
to advance was impossible ; to retreat the only alternative. Permission 
was given the troops to retire. By degrees they fled to the rear ; but it 
was two o'clock in the afternoon before the place was wholly evacuated. 

Forty -seven officers and three hundred and seventy -two soldiers 
were killed, one hundred and twenty -four officers and fifteen hun- 
dred and fifty-five soldiers wounded, and nineteen hundred missing ; 
a total loss of over four thousand men, and no substantial advantage 
gained. 

The loss of the Confederates by the explosion was very great, as also 
by the heavy artillery fire. 

The causes of the failure, as decided by the Committee on the 
Conduct of the War, were : the injudicious formation of the troops 
assaulting ; the halting of Ledlie ; lack of proper engineers ; and the 
want of a competent head at the scene of assault. 

The reasons why the attack ought to have been successful are thus 
stated : 

" 1. The evident surprise of the enemy at the time of the explosion 
of the mine, and for some time after. 

" 2. The comparatively small force in the enemy's works. 

" 3. The ineffective fire of the enemy's artillery and musketry, 
there being scarcely any for about thirty minutes after the explosion, 
and our artillery being just the reverse as to time and power. 

"4. The fact that our troops were able to get two hundred yards 
beyond the crater, towards the west, but could not remain there or 
proceed farther for want of supports." 

It was a humiliating, disgraceful failure, which filled the North with 
mourning. The Confederates manifested their hatred of the coloured 
troops by shooting some of them even after they had surrendered. The 
Richmond Enquirer said that the assaulting column was led by coloured 
troops, who rushed on with the cry of " No quarter," but the assertion 
is not true. The coloured troops were not ordered forward till late in 
the morning, and then advanced but a few steps beyond the crater. 
The Enquirer of August 1st doubtless gave expression to the sentiments 
of the Southern people respecting the treatment to be accorded to 
coloured soldiers. Said that paper: 



SIEGE OPERATIONS. 411 

"Grant's war -cry of 'No quarter,' shouted by his negro soldiers, 
was returned with interest, we regret to hear not so heavily as it ought 
to have been, since some negroes were captured instead of being 
shot. . . . Let every salient we are called upon to defend be a Fort 
Pillow, and butcher every negro that Grant hurls against our brave 
troops, and permit them not to soil their hands with the capture of one 
negro." 

It was the opinion of many officers who saw the advance of the 
coloured division, that, had they been permitted to lead the assault, the 
crest would have been seized and held. Such is the opinion of the 
Lieutenant- General, already given. 

The onset promised to be successful, but ended in one of the severest 
disasters of the war, without any compensation worthy of mention. 

The ground was thickly strewn with dying and dead. The sun 
blazed from a cloudless sky, and the heat was intense. The cries of 
the wounded were heartrending. Officers and men on both sides 
stopped their ears, and turned away heart-sick at the sight. It was 
an exhibition of the horrible features of war which, once seen, is 
forever remembered. 

The operation of Grant upon the enemy's lines of communication 
was beginning to be felt in Richmond. Wilson and Kautz on the 
Danville and Weldon roads, Sheridan on the Virginia Central, and 
Hunter in the vicinity of Lynchburg, altogether had caused an interrup- 
tion of communication which advanced the prices of produce in the 
markets of that city. 

It is amusing to read the papers published during the summer of 
1864. All of Grant's movements from the Rapidan to Petersburg 
were retreats. Lee, in his despatches to Jeff Davis from the Wilder- 
ness, said that Grant was retreating towards Fredericksburg. It 
happened, however, that Lee found Grant attacking his lines at Spott- 
sylvania on the following morning. " The enemy is falling back from 
Spottsylvania," said the Examiner, when Grant moved to the North Anna. 

" Grant is floundering in the swamp of the Chickahominy ; he has 
reached McClellan's graveyard," said the rebel press, when he was at 
Cold Harbour. 

" Grant's attitude before Petersburg is that of a baffled, if not a 
ruined man," said the Richmond Enquirer. 

" We can stand such a siege as Grant thinks he has established, for 
twenty years to come," was the language of the Petersburg Express. 



412 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Another number of the Enquirer, commenting upon the Richmond 
markets, revealed more clearly the truth. 

" The extortion now practised upon the people," said the Enquirer of 
June 30th, " in every department of necessary supply, is frightful. It 
is a pitiable sight to see the families of this city swarming in the 
markets for food, and subjected to the merciless exactions of this 
unrestrained avarice." 

The fortunes of the Confederacy were becoming desperate. Sherman 
had advanced from Chattanooga, driving Johnston to Atlanta. The 
removal of Johnston, and the appointment of an officer in his stead 
who would fight the Yankees, was demanded. Jefferson Davis heeded 
the cry, removed Johnston, and appointed Hood to succeed him. The 
Enquirer was jubilant. Said that sheet : 

" There must be an end of retreating, and the risk of defeat must be 
encountered, or victory can never be won. The rule of Cunctator must 
have an end, for the rashness of Scipio can only end this war. If Gen- 
eral Johnston has been relieved, the country will accept this action of 
the President as a determination henceforth to accept the risk of battle, 
as involving the fate and fixing the destiny of the Confederacy. To go 
forward and to fight is now the motto of our armies, and since Johnston 
would not advance, Hood has no other alternative, for his appointment 
has but one meaning, and that is to give battle to the foe. . . . Grant 
is hopelessly crippled at Petersburg, and Lee has but a few days ago 
thundered his artillery in the corporate limits of Washington City. 
Grant, while apparently advancing, has been really retreating, and this 
day is in a position from which he can advance no farther, and from 
which his retreat is only a question of time. Grant is exhausting the 
malice of disappointment and the chagrin of defeat in bombarding 
Petersburg ; but Sherman, unless defeated by Hood, must march into 
Atlanta. The movements of General Lee have so weakened the army 
of Grant, that it is more an object of pity than of fear." 

Early in the campaign Grant, seeing the necessity of keeping the 
ranks of the Army of the Potomac full, had ordered the Nineteenth 
Corps, then on the Mississippi, to take transports for the James. His 
policy was concentration combined with activity. His foresight and 
prudence in this matter were of inestimable value, as will be seen in the 
ensuing chapter. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

INVASION OF MARYLAND. 

THE time for which many of the soldiers had enlisted was expiring. 
President Lincoln had ordered a draft, to fill up the ranks. Men 
who had opposed the war at the beginning were saying that the South 
never could be conquered. Mr. Lincoln had been renominated for Pres- 
ident. General McClellan was also a candidate. Those who supported 
General McClellan said that if he were elected there would soon be 
peace. The soldiers who had served three years were almost wholly in 
favour of the reelection of Mr. Lincoln. They were for carrying on the 
war till the old flag should wave once more over all the seceded States, 
and they showed their patriotism by reenlisting — bidding good-by to 
father and mother, and going back once more to the army, ready to give 
their lives to their country. 

The armies of the Union in Virginia, in the West, beyond the Missis- 
sippi, and along the Gulf were controlled by General Grant. The chess- 
board was continental in its dimensions, but everything upon it seemed 
within reach of his hand. He had two armies under his immediate 
direction, — the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the James. He 
was in constant communication with Sherman at Atlanta, and his orders 
reached the forces a thousand miles distant on the Mississippi ! The 
details were left to the commanders of the various armies, but all im- 
portant schemes were submitted to him for approval. But his best 
plans sometimes miscarried, from the neglect or inability of his subor- 
dinates to carry them into execution. Before starting from the Rapi- 
dan, General Grant ordered Hunter, who had succeeded to the command 
of Sigel in the Shenandoah, to proceed up the valley to Staunton and 
Gordonsville. When Grant was on the North Anna, he advised that 
officer to move on Charlottesville and Lynchburg, live on the country as 
he marched, and destroy the railroads, and, if possible, the James River 
Canal. Accomplishing that, he was to return to Gordonsville, and there 
join Grant. Hunter advanced. Sheridan was sent with the cavalry, 
while Grant was at Cold Harbour, to aid him. Sheridan broke up the 

413 



414 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



Virginia Central Railroad, moved to Gordonsville, but hearing nothing 
of Hunter returned to the White House, and rejoined Grant at Peters- 
burg. 

Hunter moved up the valley. At the same time Generals Crook and 
Averill, leaving western Virginia, met Hunter near Staunton, where 




"GOING BACK ONCE MORE TO THE ARMY. 



they had a battle with the Confederates under General Jones, who was 
killed, and his force routed, with a loss of three guns and fifteen 
hundred prisoners. 

Hunter, instead of approaching Lynchburg by Gordonsville and Char- 
lottesville, took the road leading through Lexington and thus missed 
Sheridan. 



INVASION OF MARYLAND. 415 

He reached Lynchburg on the 16th of June, at the same time that 
Grant was moving from Cold Harbour to the James. Lee, seeing the 
danger which threatened him at the back door of the Confederate capi- 
tal, threw reinforcements into Lynchburg, and Hunter was obliged to 
retreat, being far from his base, and having but a limited supply of am- 
munition. Having advanced upon Lynchburg from the west, instead of 
from the north, he was obliged to retreat in the same direction, through 
western Virginia, a country well-nigh barren of supplies. This left the 
Shenandoah open. There was no force to oppose the Confederates who 
were at Lynchburg. The decision of Hunter to go forward by Lexing- 
ton instead of by Gordonsville disarranged Grant's plans, who did not 
direct him to move by Charlottesville. His letter to Halleck, of the 
25th of May, reads : " If Hunter can possibly get to Charlottesville and 
Lynchburg, he should do so, living on the country. The railroad and 
canals should be destroyed beyond the possibility of repair for weeks. 
Completing this, he could find his way back to his original base, or from 
Gordonsville join this army." No mention was made of his advancing 
by Lexington ; but taking that route, and being compelled to retreat by 
the Great Kanawha, gave Lee an opportunity to strike a blow at Wash- 
ington. He was active to improve it, but Grant was quick to discover 
his intentions. 

Ewell was sick, and Early was appointed to command the rebel troops 
in the Valley. Breckenridge was sent up from Richmond. The troops 
took cars and moved up the Lynchburg road to Gordonsville. Early 
found himself at the head of twenty -five or thirty thousand men. 
Mosby, with his band of guerillas, was scouring the Valley and western 
Virginia. He reported a clear coast towards Washington, but that Sigel 
was at Martinsburg. 

Early passed rapidly down the Valley, drove Sigel across the Poto- 
mac, and followed him to Hagerstown. The people of western Mary- 
land and southern Pennsylvania, who had already received two 
unpleasant visits from the rebels, fled in haste towards Baltimore and 
Harrisburg. The panic was widespread. Extravagant stories were told 
of the force of the enemy : Lee's whole army was advancing ; he had 
outgeneralled Grant; he had sixty thousand men across the Potomac; 
Washington and Baltimore were to be captured. All of which was 
received with exceeding coolness by the Lieutenant-General in command 
at City Point, who detached the Sixth Corps, ordering Ricketts's division 
to Baltimore and the other two divisions to Washington. The Nine- 



416 THE BOYS OF '61. 

teenth Corps, which had arrived at Fortress Monroe, was despatched to 
Washington. 

The news was startling. Leaving the army at Petersburg, I hastened 
to City Point, to proceed to Washing-ton. There was no commotion at 
General Grant's headquarters. The chief quartermaster was looking 
over his reports. The clerks were at their regular work. There were 
numerous transports in the stream, but no indications of the embarka- 
tion of troops. General Grant was out, walking leisurely about, with 
his thumbs in the arm-holes of his vest, smoking his cigar so quietly 
and apparently unconcerned, that, had it not been for the three stars on 
his shoulders, a stranger would have passed him without a thought of 
his being the man who was playing the deepest game of war in modern 
times. The members of his military family were not in the least ex- 
cited. Calling on Colonel Bowers, Grant's adjutant- general, I found 
him attending to the daily routine. 

" They are having a little scare at Washington and in the North. It 
will do them good," said he. 

" How large a force is it supposed the rebels have in Maryland ? " 

" Somewhere about twenty-five thousand, — possibly thirty. Breck- 
enridge has gone, with his command. And Early has raked and scraped 
all the troops possible which were outside of Richmond. Mosby is with 
him, and the irregular bands of the upper Potomac, and the troops 
which met Hunter at Lynchburg. It will not affect operations here. 
Lee undoubtedly expected to send Grant post-haste to Washington ; but 
the siege will go on." 

On the wall of his room was a map of the Southern States, showing 
by coloured lines the various gauges of all the railroads. Grant came 
in, looked at it, said " Good -morning," and went out for another stroll 
about the grounds, thinking all the while. 

On board our boat was a lively company, principally composed of the 
soldiers of the Massachusetts Sixteenth, who had served three years, and 
were on their way home. They were in the Peninsular campaigns. 
Their commander, Colonel Wyman, was killed at Glendale, where they 
held the ground when McCall's line was swept away. His fugitives ran 
through Hooker's and Sumner's lines, but the men of the Sixteenth 
stood firm in their places, till the drift had passed by, and moved for- 
ward to meet the exultant enemy, pouring in such a fire that the 
Confederate column became a mob, and fled in haste towards Richmond. 
They were in Grover's brigade at the second battle of Manassas. There 



INVASION OF MARYLAND. 417 

have been few bayonet - charges pushed with such power as theirs in 
that battle. The rebels were on Milroy's left flank, which was bend 
ing like a bruised reed before their advance, when G rover moved to the 
attack. 

•• We stood in three lines."' said a wounded officer of the Second 
Louisiana, a prisoner at Warrenton. two months after that battle. 
•• They fell upon us like a thunderbolt. They paid no attention to our 
vollevs. We mowed them down, but they went right through our first 
line, then through our second, and advanced to the railroad embank- 
ment, and there we stopped them. They did it so splendidly that we 
could n't help cheering them. It made me feel bad to fire on such brave 
fellows." 

They were reduced to a squad. Their comrades were lying on nearly 
all the battle-fields of Virginia. 

■■ We have had a pretty rough time of it, and I am dad we are 
through : but I would n't mind havinsr another crack at the Johnnies 
round Washington." said a soldier, lying on the deck, with his knapsack 
for a pillow. 

The whole regiment was ready to volunteer for the defence of Wash- 
ington. 

The cannoneers of the Twelfth New York battery were of the com- 
pany. They were in Wilson's raid, had lost their guns, and felt - 
Even when their loss is owing to no fault on the part of the artillerists, 
they usually feel that it is humiliating. They give pet names to the 
I _- of war: and when a good shot has been made, affectionately pat 
their brazen lips. 

There were members of the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, 
taking care of the sick and wounded : also a family of refugees from 
Prince Gk a I < uity. on the way to Maryland, to find a new home till 
the war was over. 

The time for which many of the soldiers had enlisted was expiring. 
and they were returning home. The new regiments recruited under the 
draft ordered by the Government had not arrived to take their places, 
or. if arriving, were inexperienced and undisciplined, and could not be 
relied on for aggressive operations. It was this changing of troops that 
prevented General Grant from making extended movements. His plan 
of the general campaign, east and west, was not comprehended by the 
public, for the public did not know how far-reaching it was. He be- 
lieved that the armv under Sherman would work its wav into the heart 



418 THE BOYS OF '61. 

of the Confederate States ; that Sherman's movement would prevent the 
Confederate Government from sending large bodies to reinforce Lee ; 
that if he could hold Lee at Petersburg, the time would come when he 
could take the aggressive once more, and win the final victory. He was 
not concerned for the safety of Washington, but, deeming it best to be on 
the safe side, detached the Sixth Corps, under General Wright, to go 
down the James and up the Potomac, to hold Early in check. 

Early was making the most of his opportunity. His cavalry moved 
at will, with no force to oppose them. 

They divided into small bodies and overran the country from Fred- 
erick to Williamsport, destroying the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, burn- 
ing canal - boats, seizing horses, cattle, and supplies from the farmers, 
ransacking houses as thoroughly as the soldiers of the Union had done 
in Virginia. 

The first invasion of Maryland, in 1862, was a political as well as a 
military movement. It was supposed by the rebel leaders that the State 
was ready to join the Confederacy, that the people were held in subjec- 
tion by a military despotism. " My Maryland " was then the popular 
song of the South, sung in camp, on the march, and in parlours and 
concert-halls. 

" The despot's heel is on thy shore, 
Maryland i 
His torch is at thy temple-door, 

Maryland ! 
Avenge the patriotic gore 
That wept o'er gallant Baltimore, 
And be the battle-queen of yore, 
Maryland ! My Maryland ! " 

When Jackson's corps crossed the Potomac, his troops sang it with 
enthusiastic demonstrations, tossing up their caps. They came as liber- 
ators. Jackson's orders were strict against pillage. All property 
taken was to be paid for in Confederate notes, — at that time esteemed 
by the rebels to be as good as greenbacks, though not very acceptable to 
the Marylanders. It was an invasion for conciliation. The troops 
respected the orders, and, aside from the loss of a few horses, the people 
of Maryland were well treated in that campaign. But in the second 
invasion, when Lee passed into Pennsylvania, no favour was shown to 
Maryland. Houses, stores, public and private buildings alike, were 
sacked and burned. The soldiers foraged at will, and the one who could 



INVASION OF MAKYLAND. 419 

secure the most clothing or food was the best fellow. In this third and 
last invasion, officers and soldiers pillaged indiscriminately. 

" Pay me twenty thousand dollars or I will burn your town," said 
Early to the citizens of Hagerstown, who advanced the money or its 
equivalent. 

General Lew Wallace was in command at Baltimore. He sent what 
troops he could collect to the Monocacy, where he was joined by 
Ricketts's division of the Sixth Corps. Wallace formed his line across 
the railroad and awaited Early's advance. With the exception of 
Ricketts's division, Wallace's troops were men enlisted for one hundred 
days, also heavy artillerists taken from the Baltimore fortifications, 
invalids from the hospitals, and volunteers, numbering about nine thou- 
sand. The rebels forded the stream, and began the attack. They were 
held in check several hours. 

It was a brave and stubborn resistance which the troops under 
Wallace made, but they were vastly outnumbered. The loss was about 
twelve hundred. The determined stand, the knowledge that he was 
confronted by a portion of the Army of the Potomac made Early 
cautious. Had he pushed on with the energy that had characterised 
his advance to that point, it seems probable that he might have made 
his way into Washington. Wallace showed excellent judgment in 
fighting this battle of Monocacy against a vastly superior force. At 
the most he could only hope to delay the Confederate advance. 

His defeat, and the stories of the magnitude of the rebel force, put 
Baltimore and Washington in great excitement. The battle at Monoc- 
acy was fought on Saturday. On Sunday morning the church-bells in 
Baltimore were rung, and the citizens, instead of attending worship, 
made haste to prepare for the enemy. Alarming reports reached that 
city from Westminster, Reisterstown, and Cockeysville, that the rebels 
were in possession of those places. Couriers dashed into Washington 
from Rockville, only twelve miles distant, crying that the rebels were 
advancing upon the capital. On Monday morning they were near 
Havre-de-Grace, at Gunpowder River, where they burned the bridge, 
cut the telegraph, captured trains, and robbed passengers, entirely 
severing Baltimore and Washington from the loyal North. Only five 
miles from Washington, they burned the house of Governor Bradford, 
and pillaged Montgomery Blair's. Government employees were under 
arms, and troops were hastening out on the roads leading north and 
west, when I arrived in Washington. Loud cheers greeted Wright's 



420 THE BOYS OF '61. 

two divisions of the Sixth Corps, and still louder shouts the veterans 
of the Nineteenth Corps, from the Mississippi, as they marched through 
the city. It was amusing and instructive to watch the rapid change in 
men's countenances. When disaster threatens, men are silent ; the 
danger past, the tongue is loosened. 

On Tuesday, July 12th, the Confederate sharpshooters were in front of 
Fort Stevens, a short distance out from Washington. President Lincoln 
rode out to that fortification. General Wright had much difficulty in 
preventing him from exposing himself. He stood looking over the 
parapet unmindful of the bullets singing now and then through the air 
from the Confederate sharpshooters; not till an officer was wounded 
did he seem to realise his imprudence. His presence thrilled the 
veterans, who, knowing that the President was there, made quick work 
in driving Early from his position. The Confederate Commander 
says : 

" My rapid marching had broken down my men, who were weakened 
by previous exposure. My force was reduced to about eight thousand 
muskets. Not more than one-half of my men could have been carried 
into action." 

This was written after his retreat, and may be regarded as a special 
plea in justification of his retreat. He had a conference with his sub- 
ordinate officers, — Breckenridge, Rodes, Gordon, and Ramseur. He 
could not bear to give up the project so dear to him — the capture of 
Washington, jointly of President Lincoln. If he could but accomplish it, 
he would revive the failing fortunes of the Confederacy. During the 
night he received word from General Bradly Johnston from near Balti- 
more, that two corps of the Army of the Potomac had arrived, and that 
the whole of Grant's army would soon be there. When day dawned he 
saw the fortifications alive with troops. He could see the unfinished 
dome of the Capitol, could hear the church -bells toll the hours. The 
prize he so much coveted was so near and yet so far away ! Instead of 
rushing upon the fortifications, the newly arrived Union troops were ad- 
vancing to drive him into the Potomac. He saw that he must hasten 
away, and retreated to Virginia with an immense amount of plunder 
taken from the people of Maryland. 

While the Confederates were helping themselves to horses and cattle, 
north of the Potomac, the property of slaveholders throughout the South, 
where the Union troops advanced, came of its own accord into the camp, 
to become soldiers, or, if not carrying muskets, using the shovel and 



INVASION OF MARYLAND. 



421 



pickax in building fortifications, serving as deck-hands on steamboats. 
Through the coloured people General Grant in Virginia, General Sher- 
man before Atlanta, the War Department in Washington received 




NOTHING TO DO. 



reliable information. The cavalry soldiers ranging the country as 
scouts could obtain far more trustworthy information than from the 
white people. The sympathisers of the negroes were all with the Union 



422 THE BOYS OF '61. 

troops and with " Massa Linkum," who had given them their freedom. 
At night, while their masters were asleep, the negroes were wide-awake, 
communicating information from cabin to cabin. They offered no 
violence to their masters or mistresses ; stayed on the plantation till the 
soldiers under the Stars and Stripes were within reach, and then, without 
bidding their masters good-by, started for the Union lines — no longer to 
be turned back, by orders of General Halleck and other commanders, but 
heartily welcomed. In Washington there was a great encampment of 
coloured people — refugees, who were fed by the Government. From 
the former slaves of the Confederates the Union Army was filling up its 
ranks, preparing for the final struggle. The young negroes, fed by the 
Government, having nothing to do, enjoyed a continuous holiday. 

The problem, as to what should be done with them, was difficult of 
solution. The philanthropic sentiment of the country was appealed to, 
and scores of teachers came from Northern homes to gather the rollick- 
ing young negroes into schools, preparing them for future citizenship. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

AFFAIKS IN THE WEST. 

THE Army under General Sherman was fighting its way towards 
Atlanta. At the beginning of that campaign the Confederates 
held a very strong position at Tunnel Hill and Buzzard's Roost, but 
General Sherman, by a flank movement, compelled Johnston to retreat 
to Resaca. The Confederates stood on the defensive, but were compelled 
to take new positions till they were forced back to Atlanta. The 
inability of Johnston to hold his ground against Sherman angered the 
Southern people. The newspapers demanded his removal and the 
appointment of a commander who would strike a blow against Sherman. 
Jefferson Davis disliked Johnston on personal grounds, and appointed 
General Hood to the command. 

General Hood was a brave, bold, energetic commander, who had led 
his troops in many battles. He had opposed Johnston's policy of falling 
back. A spy brought information to General Sherman of Hood's 
appointment to succeed Johnston. General Sherman comprehended 
the meaning of the change of Confederate commanders, that instead of 
attacking he might expect to be attacked. Hood was a believer in what 
was called the Stonewall Jackson method of attack, to march with a 
portion of his army and strike a blow in one direction, then turn and 
give a second blow somewhere else. 

On the afternoon of July 19th, leaving a portion of his army to hold 
the breastworks and fortifications around Atlanta, Hood marched with 
the larger part of his army to attack the troops under Major-General 
Thomas. He had expected to drive Thomas from his position, but when 
night came was compelled to fall back behind his entrenchments, 
having lost more than four thousand men. Three days later Hood 
suffered a second defeat, and the Union troops gained a position east of 
Atlanta, from whence they could throw shell into the town. General 
Hood next day made a roundabout march, gained the rear of the 
troops commanded by General McPherson, and made a vigorous 
attack. The battle raged all day, resulting in the defeat of Hood. 

423 



424 THE BOYS OF '61. 

The Union loss was about thirty-five hundred, while the Confederate 
loss was nearly ten thousand, one of the most disastrous during the 
war. The Union general, McPherson, one of the ablest officers in the 
service, was killed. General Sherman keenly felt his loss. 

The siege of Atlanta began. General Sherman had no intention of 
assaulting the Confederate works made strong by gangs of slaves and 
by the Confederate troops. General Hood, having suffered so severely, 
had no inclination to attack Sherman. The Union army rested while 
the engineers were building a bridge across the Chattahoochee River. 
That done, General Sherman was ready for a new movement. He sent 
his cavalry to destroy the railroads east of Atlanta. He had approached 
the town from the north and east, in order to destroy the Confederate 
communication with Richmond. He determined to place the army 
southwest of the town. He wanted to do several things, — to be near 
the railroad that brought his supplies from Nashville ; to be in position 
to cut off Hood's supplies ; to compel Hood to evacuate the town. 

General Stoneman, commanding Sherman's cavalry, proposed that a 
portion of the cavalry under General McCook should be detailed to 
destroy the railroads south of Atlanta, while he, himself, with another 
body, should make a forced march to Andersonville, one hundred and 
ten miles south, and relieve the thirty-three thousand prisoners who 
were being starved to death in that horrible prison. General Sherman 
consented to the plan. It was an error of judgment. Stoneman had 
five thousand men, McCook four thousand. United they would have 
been a formidable force, able to cope with any Confederate force likely 
to be sent against them ; divided, Stoneman was too weak to accomplish 
his purpose. Instead of stopping to destroy railroad tracks, a forced 
march should have been made. Stoneman reached the river opposite 
Macon, found himself confronted by Confederates, and fell back when 
he should have acted with great vigour. The Confederates were gather- 
ing around him. A portion of his troops cut their way out, but he him- 
self with more than seven hundred men were taken prisoners. 

General Sherman, on July 29th, moved southwest of Atlanta. Hood 
thought it a good time to make an attack. The result was a defeat 
with a loss of more than four thousand. Hood sent his cavalry under 
General Wheeler into Tennessee to destroy Sherman's railroad connec- 
tions. Some damage was done, but the roads were soon repaired. 

Sherman, seeing that his own cavalry could not permanently cripple 
Hood's connections, determined to make a movement of his infantry. 



AFFAIRS IN THE WEST. 



427 



He sent the Twentieth Corps northward to protect his trains. The 
Confederates thought that Sherman was retreating. Hood concluded 
that Wheeler was creating such havoc in Sherman's rear that he was 
obliged to retreat. He did not mistrust that the larger part of the 




GENERAL JOHN B. HOOD, C. S. A. 

army was on its way to Jonesborough, south of Atlanta. When the 
movement was discovered he hurried a portion of his troops there. His 
army was widely scattered, while Sherman's, with the exception of the 
Twentieth Corps, was compact. After a battle Sherman was in posses- 
sion of the railroad at Jonesborough, and Hood, on September 1st, was 
compelled to evacuate Atlanta. 



428 THE BOYS OF '61. 

While Sherman was making this movement, Admiral Farragut with 
his fleet made his way past the forts at the entrance to Mobile Bay, 
engaged and defeated the Confederate warships. The Confederates still 
held the city of Mobile, so that General Conley in command of the land 
forces could not advance and cooperate with Sherman. Having secured 
Atlanta, General Sherman allowed his army to rest, while he prepared 
for a second movement. People at the North thought he would move 
toward Mobile. 

On the Confederate side Jefferson Davis hastened from Richmond to 
Georgia to confer with Hood. Together they planned a campaign which 
they confidently believed would compel Sherman to give up all he had 
gained and hasten northward to Kentucky. Hood was to make a ddtour 
to the west, gain Sherman's rear, destroy the railroad leading to Nash- 
ville. That accomplished, Sherman would be under the necessity of 
turning back, to keep his army from starving. 

u Your feet," said Davis, to the soldiers, " shall press the soil of Ten- 
nessee within thirty days. The retreat of Sherman from Atlanta shall 
be like Napoleon's from Moscow." 

As Hood's army had been driven all the way from Dalton to Jones- 
borough, this place is one of the most remarkable in military history. 
It hardly comes within the scope of military criticism, but belongs rather 
to the comic page. Then came the spectacle of Sherman's preparing 
to cut loose from his base of supplies, while Hood was preparing to 
make his northward march. 

Sherman had already contemplated a movement to Savannah, and 
had opened correspondence with Grant. 

" Until we can repopulate Georgia it is useless to occupy it ; but the 
utter destruction of its roads, houses, and people will cripple their mili- 
tary resources. By attempting to hold the roads we will lose a thou- 
sand men monthly, and will gain no result. I can make the march and 
make Georgia howl. . . . Hood may turn into Tennessee and Kentucky, 
but I believe he will be forced to follow me. Instead of being on the 
defensive, I would be on the offensive. Instead of guessing at what he 
means, he would have to guess at my plans. The difference in war is 
fully twenty-five per cent. I can make Savannah, Charleston, or the 
mouth of the Chattahoochee, and prefer to march through Georgia, 
smashing things to the sea." 

Grant authorised the movement. Hood was preparing to move north. 

Sherman's right wing, commanded by Howard, was composed of 






AFFAIRS IN THE WEST. 429 

Osterhaus's Fifteenth Corps and the Seventeenth, under Blair ; Slocum 
had his left wing, containing the Fourteenth Corps under Jeff. C. Davis, 
and the Twentieth with Williams. 

The Twentieth was consolidated from the Eleventh and Twelfth 
Corps of the Army of the Potomac, which had fought at Fredericks- 
burg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. 

Sherman sent his last despatch to Washington on the 11th of No- 
vember. On the 17th, the day on which Sherman left Atlanta, Hood 
crossed the Tennessee River, to make the movement which was to com- 
pel Sherman to evacuate Georgia ! 

Sherman's southward march was a surprise to the rebels. They af- 
fected joy, and predicted his destruction. 

Said the Augusta Constitutionalist : 

" The hand of God is in it. The blow, if we can give it as it should 
be given, may end the war. We urge our friends in the track of the 
advance to remove forage and provisions, horses, mules, and negroes, 
and stock, and burn the balance. Let the invader find the desolation he 
would leave behind him staring him in the face. . . . Cut trees across 
all roads in front of the enemy, burn the bridges, remove everything pos- 
sible in time, and, before the enemy arrives, burn and destroy what can- 
not be removed, — leave nothing on which he can subsist; and hide the 
millstones and machinery of the mills. . . . The Russians destroyed the 
grand army of Napoleon, of five hundred thousand men, by destroying 
their country, by the fulness of fire applied to their own cities, houses, 
and granaries. Let Georgians imitate their unselfishness and love of 
country for a few weeks, and the army of Sherman will have the fate of 
the army of Napoleon." 

Said the Savannah News : 

" We have only to arouse our whole arms-bearing people, hover on 
his front, his flanks, and rear, remove from his reach or destroy every- 
thing that will subsist man or beast, retard his progress by every 
means in our power, and, when the proper time comes, fall upon him 
with the relentless vengeance of an insulted and outraged people, and 
there need be no doubt of the result." 

" If it be true,'* said the Examiner of Richmond, " that Sherman is 
now attempting this prodigious design, we may safely predict that his 
march will lead him to the Paradise of Fools, and that his magnificent 
scheme will hereafter be reckoned 

" ' With all the srood deeds that never were done.' " 



430 THE BOYS OF '01. 

On September 22d, General Hood began his march. General Forrest 
with a large body of Confederate cavalry suddenly appeared at Athens, 
Alabama, capturing twelve hundred Union troops and destroying the 
railroad. Sherman sent a portion of his troops to hold Chattanooga. 
Leaving the Twentieth Corps to hold Atlanta, he marched back to 
Marietta. Hood sent five thousand men to capture Allatoona Pass. 
The Union troops — nineteen hundred — held it. General French, com- 
manding the Confederates, sent a flag with a letter to General Corse, 
the Union commander. 

" I have placed the forces under my command in such position that 
you are surrounded, and, to avoid a needless effusion of blood, I call on 
you to surrender your forces at once and unconditionally. Five minutes 
will be allowed you to decide ; should you accede to this you will be 
treated in the most honourable manner as prisoners of war." 

I was not at Allatoona, but with the Army of the Potomac at the 
time ; but I had made the acquaintance of General Corse at Shiloh and 
Corinth. There was not a man in the army braver than he. Five 
minutes was ample time for him to deliberate as to what answer he 
should give. 

" Your communication," he wrote, " demanding the surrender of my 
command, I acknowledge the receipt of, and respectfully reply that we 
are prepared for the ' needless effusion of blood ' whenever it is agree- 
able to you." 

Before the white flag got back to his lines, General French began 
his advance. It was early in the morning. General Sherman was 
twenty miles away on the top of Kenesaw Mountain. Looking north- 
ward he could see columns of smoke curling above the forest along 
the line of the railroad leading to Allatoona, from bridges set on 
fire by the Confederates. He could see through his glass the Con- 
federates advancing to attack General Corse upon the hill-top at Alla- 
toona Pass. 

From morning till three o'clock in the afternoon the battle raged, 
the Confederates especially desiring to capture the immense amount of 
stores Sherman had accumulated at that point. The signal officer 
telegraphed through the air over the heads of the Confederates a 
message informing Corse that he would soon have reinforcements. 
Corse replied that he had lost a cheek-bone and one of his ears, but was 
able to whip the enemy. 

The Confederates, hearing that reinforcements were advancing, which 



AFFAIRS IN THE WEST. 431 

would place them between two fires, made a hasty retreat, having 
suffered severe loss. The Confederates greatly damaged the railroad, 
but in a few days the cars were again running. 

General Sherman saw that it would be a very difficult matter for 
him to keep open communication with Nashville, his base of supplies. 
He believed he could cut loose from them, abandon Atlanta and all that 
section of country, and march to Savannah, destroying all the railroads 
on the way, and thus cripple the operations of the Confederates. He 
would leave General Thomas with sufficient troops to hold Nashville. 
He sent this outline of his plan to General Grant at Petersburg : 

" I propose that we break up the railroad from Chattanooga, and that 
we strike with our wagons for Milledgeville, Millers, and Savannah. 
By attempting to hold the roads, we shall lose one thousand men each 
month and will gain no results. I can make the march and make 
Georgia howl." 

The plan was so bold that President Lincoln doubted if it would be 
successful. General Grant asked by telegraph if it would not be 
advisable first to destroy Hood's army. Sherman replied that no 
single army could catch Hood. Grant thereupon gave him authority 
to carry out his plan. 

All material collected at Savannah was sent to Nashville. Hood's 
spies informed him that Sherman evidently was getting ready to retire 
to that point. Beauregard was sent west by Jefferson Davis to com- 
mand the department, while Hood made his northward march. Neither 
of them had any suspicion as to what Sherman really intended to do. 
Not till the bridge across the Chattahoochee was burned and the 
railroad torn up by Sherman's soldiers to prevent Hood from using it, 
not till Sherman was ready to leave Atlanta, did the Confederate 
commander comprehend what Sherman was doing. 

There were three conditions to the plan : the first that a sufficient 
force should be concentrated in Tennessee to confront Hood ; the 
second, that Grant should prevent Lee from stealing away from 
Petersburg to fall upon Sherman ; and third, that supplies should be 
sent to the fleet off Savannah for the army upon its arrival. 

On Nov. 12th, the army, sixty-two thousand, having sixty-five cannon 
and rations, marched out of Atlanta. 

General Sherman was methodical in all his movements. He selected 
the roads upon which the columns were to move. Every morning at 
seven o'clock the march must begin and fifteen miles must be made 



432 THE BOYS OF '61. 

before the soldiers could kindle their bivouac fires. Behind each 
regiment was to be one baggage wagon and one ambulance. All the 
sick and feeble had been sent to Tennessee ; he started with only able- 
bodied men. Each brigade commander must detail men to collect 
provisions from the plantations. In all, there were twenty -five 
hundred wagons, but so distributed that they would not impede the 
troops. 

Not till Sherman was moving out of Atlanta did Beauregard compre- 
hend what was going on. He issued a proclamation, " Arm for the 
defence of your native soil. Obstruct and destroy all the roads, and 
Sherman's army will soon starve," he said. 

The Confederate Secretary of War sent telegrams to citizens asking 
everybody to seize their guns, burn all bridges, remove their cattle and 
negroes, assail the invaders in front, flank, and rear, night and day, 
give Sherman no rest. It was a small matter to send a telegram, but 
quite different to organise an army to oppose sixty thousand resolute, 
disciplined men, who had pushed Johnston from near Chattanooga to 
Atlanta and defeated Hood in several battles. The Legislature passed 
an act ordering every man able to bear arms to turn out. The news- 
papers said that Sherman was making a movement which would ensure 
the destruction of his army. On the other hand, the Union soldiers 
swung their hats and hurrahed as they cut loose from Atlanta. 

Sherman had pontoons made of canvas, light and serviceable, which 
could be packed in small space, by which he could quickly lay bridges 
and cross the rivers. The divisions of his army marched on parallel roads, 
cutting a swath fifty miles wide, obtaining provisions for the entire force, 
living on the best the country afforded. The Legislature was in session 
at Milledgeville, but left suddenly for their homes, barely escaping the 
Union cavalry. The Union troops entered the capital, organised them- 
selves into a legislature, voted Georgia back into the Union, made patri- 
otic speeches, hurrahed for President Lincoln and General Sherman. 
There was constant skirmishing between the Union and Confederate 
cavalry, but no pitched battle. Some of the brigades were detailed to 
march along the railroads. Laying down their guns and ranging them- 
selves along the track, the soldiers lifted it from the ground and pitched 
great sections of it down the embankment. They kindled great fires, 
laid the rails across the burning ties, which at a red heat could be easily 
twisted out of shape. Bridges were burned, and hundreds of miles 
of railroad rendered unserviceable. The slaves upon the plantations 



AFFAIRS DI THE WEST. 438 

welcomed the army, and flocked by the thousand to Sherman's lines, 
welcoming the troops as their frien - 

Not :."-. Sherman crossed the . :~ Rfcex eoold the I ..: 

comprehend whether he was intending to make for Savannah. Port Royal. 
h rl st d. When they saw that the movement was towards Savan- 
nah, all available troops were hu: ri I :he defence : that aty. In- 
I of advancing directly upon the entrenchments, he sent Hazen's 
division to attack Fort McAllister. Getting panew : :hat fortifica- 

tion he would be in communication with the Union warships. 

In 1863 I had witnessed th- ng . .xent between the monitors and the 
fort. Through the months it had frowned defiance to the Union fleet. 
The Con: I - had placed a strong abatis around it. but the troops 

crawled through the tangled branches of the fallen trees, charged upon 
the fort, and in a very few minutes planted the St - nd Sfcri - upon 
the para I 

Obtaining heavy guns from the fleet, he placed them in ] nti n to 
open fire upon the Confed I : rtificatkm. General E seeing thai 

he could not hope to hold the city, laid a bridge across the Savannah 
River, and evacuated the place. With flying colours and the bands play- 
ing, the army entered the city. It was a brief despatch which Sherman 
sent: I - lent Lincoln, I m 28tfc 

"Ihegt - at you as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with 

one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, and also 
about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton." 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

SCENES IN SAVANNAH. 

When the Union array entered Savannah the people were on the 
verge of starvation. General Sherman, seeing the destitution, made an 
appeal to the people of the North to send a supply of food. Boston, 
New York, and Philadelphia were quick to respond. In Boston thirty 
thousand dollars were contributed in four days, a steamer chartered, 
loaded, and despatched on its errand of mercy. The occasion being so 
unusual, I deemed it worth while to visit Savannah, to be an eye-witness 
of the reception of the timely and munificent gift. 

The employment of the steamer G-reyhound on such a mission added 
to the interest. She was a captured blockade-runner, built at Greenock, 
Scotland, in 1863, purposely to run the blockade. She made one trip 
into Wilmington, and was seized while attempting to escape from that 
port. In every timber, plank, rivet, and brace was England's hatred of 
the North, support of the South, and cupidity for themselves ; but now 
she carried peace and good -will, not only to the people of Savannah, 
but to men of every clime and lineage, race and nation. The Greyhound, 
speeding her way, was a type and symbol of the American Republic, 
freighted with the world's best hopes, and sailing proudly forward to the 
future centuries. 

Among the passengers on board at the time of her capture was Miss 
Belle Boyd, of notoriety as a spy, — bold, venturesome, and dashing, 
unscrupulous, bitter in her hatred of the Yankees, regardless of truth or 
honour, if she could but serve the rebels. She was of great service to 
them in the Shenandoah. Being within the Union lines, she obtained 
information which on several occasions enabled Jackson to make those 
sudden dashes which gave him his early fame. 

It was nearly dark on Saturday evening, January 14th, when the 
G-reyhound discharged her pilot off Boston Light. The weather was 
thick, the wind southeast, but during the night it changed to the north- 
west and blew a gale. The cold was intense. Sunday morning found 
us in Holmes's Hole, covered with ice. At noon the gale abated, and 

434 






SCENES IN SAVANNAH. 435 

we ran swiftly across the Vineyard Sound, shaping our course for H#r- 
teras. Off Charleston we passed through the blockading fleet, which 
was gayly decorated in honour of the taking of Fort Fisher. The rebel 
flag was floating defiantly over Sumter. On Thursday evening we 
dropped anchor off Port Royal, where a half-day was lost in obtaining 
permission from the custom-house to proceed to Savannah. The ob- 
structions in Savannah River made it necessary to enter Warsaw Sound 
and go up Wilmington River. With a coloured pilot, — the only one 
obtainable, recommended by the harbour-master of Hilton Head, — the 
Greyhound put to sea once more, ran down the coast, and on Sunday 
morning entered the Sound. Our pilot professed to know all the crooks 
and turns of the river, but suddenly we found ourselves fast on a mud- 
bank. It was ebb-tide, and the incoming flood floated us again. Then 
the engines refused to work, the pumps having become foul, and the 
anchor was dropped just in season to save the steamer from drifting 
broadside upon a sand-bar. It was ten miles to Thunderbolt Battery. 
The captain of a pilot-boat was kind enough to send Messrs. Briggs and 
Baldwin, of the committee of the citizens of Boston in charge of the 
supplies, Mr. Glidden, of the firm owning the Greyhound, and the writer, 
up to that point. Our course was up a winding creek bordered by gum- 
trees and beautiful with semi-tropical verdure. We landed, and stood 
where the rebels had made sad havoc of what was once a pleasant 
village. Some Iowa soldiers, on seediest horses and sorriest mules, were 
riding round, on a frolic. Shiftless, long-haired, red -eyed men and 
women, lounging about, dressed in coarsest homespun, stared at us. A 
score of horses and mules were in sight, and here were collected old 
carts, wagons, and carriages which Sherman's boys had brought from 
the interior. 

" We want to get a horse and wagon to take us to Savannah," said 
one of the party to a little old man, standing at the door of a house. 

" Wal, I reckon ye can take any one of these yere," he said, pointing 
to the horses and mules. Such animals ! Ringboned, spavined, knock- 
kneed, wall-eyed, sore -backed, — mere hides and bones, some of them 
too weak to stand, others unable to lie down on account of stiff joints. 

"How far is it to Savannah?" we asked of the residents of the 
village. 

" Three miles," said one. 

" Two miles and a half, I reckon," said a second. 

" Three miles and three-quarters," was the estimate of a third person. 



436 THE BOYS OF '61. 

A woman dressed in a plaid petticoat, a snuff-coloured linsey-woolsey 
tunic, with a tawny countenance, black hair, and flashing black eyes, 
smoking a pipe, said : " I '11 tell yer how fur it be. Savannah be a 
frying-pan and Thunderbolt be the handle, and I live on the eend on it. 
It be four miles long, zactly." 

Two coloured soldiers rode up, both on one horse, with " 55 " on their 
caps. 

" What regiment do you belong to ? " 

" The Fifty-fifth Massachusetts." 

Their camp was a mile or so up - river. A steamboat captain, who 
wished to communicate with the quartermaster, came up-stream in his 
boat and kindly offered to take us to the Fifty-fifth. It began to rain, 
and we landed near a fine old mansion surrounded by live-oaks, their 
gnarled branches draped with festoons of moss, where we thought to find 
accommodations for the night ; but no one answered our ringing. The 
doors were open, the windows smashed in ; marble mantels of elaborate 
workmanship, marred and defaced ; the walls written over with dog- 
gerel. There were bunks in the parlours, broken crockery, old boots, — 
debris everywhere. 

The committee took possession of the premises and made themselves 
at home before a roaring fire, while the writer went out on a reconnois- 
sance, bringing back the intelligence that the camp of the Fifty-fifth 
was a mile farther up the river. It was dark when we reached the 
hospitable shanty of Lieutenant - Colonel Fox, who, in the absence of 
Colonel Hartwell, was commanding the regiment, which had been there 
but twenty-four hours. The soldiers had no tents. 

One of the committee rode into Savannah, through a drenching rain, 
to report to General Grover. The night came on thick and dark. 
The rain was pouring in torrents. Colonel Fox, with great kindness, 
offered to escort us to a house near by, where we could find shelter. We 
splashed through the mud, holding on to each other's coat-tails, going 
over boots in muddy water, tumbling over logs, losing our way, being 
scratched by brambles, falling into ditches, bringing up against trees, 
halting at length against a fence, — following which we reached the 
house. The owner had fled, and the occupant had moved in because it 
was a free country and the place was inviting. He had no bed for us, 
but quickly kindled a fire in one of the chambers, and spread some quilts 
upon the floor. " I have n't much wood, but I reckon I can pick up 
something that will make a fire," said he. Then came the pitch-pine 



- EXES EN' SAVAXXAH. 



- " 



- : sk; then a l:>edstead. a broken chair, a wooden flower- 

I 

The morning dawned bright and clear. aenl 

horses for us. and bo we reached the ib . ::er many vexatious dt 
and rough experiences 




HAPPY NEGRO CHILDREN. 



The people in Savannah generally were ready to live once more in the 
Union. The fire of Secess Hit There was not much sour- 

ness, — less even than I saw at Memphis, when that city fell into our 
hands, less than was manifest in Louisville at til . aning of the war. 

At a dm * . : the citizen.-. - I - as _ " r the 

charity st wed by Boston. New Y rk, ind Philadelphia were pass 
■Is fa desire for future fellowship and a:.. 



438 THE BOYS OF '61. 

A store at the corner of Bay and Barnard Streets was taken for a 
depot, the city canvassed, and a registry made of all who were in want. 
I passed a morning among the people who came for food. The air was 
keen. Ice had formed in the gutters, and some of the jolly young 
negroes, who had provided themselves with old shoes and boots from the 
camp -grounds of Sherman's soldiers, were enjoying the luxurious pas- 
time of a slide on the ice. The barefooted cuddled under the sunny side 
of the buildings. There was a motley crowd. Hundreds of both sexes, 
all ages, sizes, complexions, and costumes; gray -haired old men of 
Anglo-Saxon blood, with bags, bottles, and baskets; coloured patriarchs, 
who had been in bondage many years, suddenly made freemen ; well- 
dressed women, wearing crape for their husbands and sons who had 
fallen while fighting against the old flag, stood patiently waiting their 
turn to enter the building, where through the open doors they could see 
barrels of flour, pork, beans, and piles of bacon, hogsheads of sugar, 
molasses, and vinegar. There were women with tattered dresses, — old 
silks and satins, years before in fashion, and laid aside as useless, but 
which now had become valuable, through destitution. 

There were women in linsey-woolsey, in negro and gunny cloth, in 
garments made from meal-bags, and men in Confederate gray and 
butternut brown; a boy with a crimson plush jacket, made from the 
upholstering of a sofa ; men in short jackets, and little boys in long 
ones ; the cast-off clothes of soldiers ; the rags which had been picked 
up in the streets, and exhumed from garrets ; boots and shoes down at 
the heel, open at the instep, and gaping at the toes ; old bonnets of 
every description, some with white and crimson feathers, and ribbons 
once bright and flaunting ; hats of every style worn by both sexes, palm- 
leaf, felt, straw, old and battered and well ventilated. One without a 
crown was worn by a man with red hair, suggestive of a chimney on 
fire, and flaming out at the top! It was the ragman's jubilee for 
charity. 

One of the tickets issued by the city authorities, in the hand of a 
woman waiting her turn at the counter, read thus : 

"CITY STORE. 

Mary Morrell. 
12 lbs. Flour. 
7 " Bacon. 
2 " Salt. 
2 qts. Vinegar." 



SCENES IN SAVANNAH. 



439 



Andersonville, Belle Isle, Libby Prison, Millen, and Salisbury will 
forever stand in suggestive contrast to this City Store in Savannah, 
furnished by the free-will offering of the loyal people of the North. 




IN ANDERSONVILLE PRISON. 



" At Libby," reads the report of the United States Sanitary Com- 
mittee, " a process of slow starvation was carried on. The corn bread 
was of the roughest and coarsest description. Portions of the cob and 
husk were often found grated in with the meal. The crust was so thick 



440 THE BOYS OF '61. 

and hard that the prisoners called it ' iron-clad.' To render the bread 
eatable they grated it, and made mush of it; but the crust they could 
not grate. Now and then, after long intervals, often of many weeks, a 
little meat was given them, perhaps two or three mouthfuls. At a later 
period they received a pint of black peas, with some vinegar, every 
week ; the peas were often full of worms, or maggots in a chrysalis state, 
which, when they made soup, floated on the surface. . . . But the most 
unaccountable and shameful act of all was yet to come. Shortly after 
this general diminution of rations, in the month of January, the boxes 
(sent by friends in the North to the prisoners), which before had been 
regularly delivered, and in good order, were withheld. No reason was 
given. Three hundred arrived every week, and were received by Colonel 
Ould, Commissioner of Exchange ; but instead of being distributed, they 
were retained and piled up in warehouses near by, in full sight of the 
tantalised and hungry captives." 

While these supplies were being distributed to the people of Savannah, 
thirty thousand Union prisoners in the hands of the rebels in south- 
western Georgia were starving to death. 

The treatment of the Union prisoners at Andersonville, where there 
are nearly thirteen thousand white headstones marking the graves of 
the dead, will ever be a stain upon those who directed affairs in the 
Confederacy. 

In contrast, the Confederate prisoners in the North received, invaria- 
bly, the same rations, in quality and quantity, given to the Union soldiers 
in the field, with ample clothing, fuel, and shelter. So unexceptional 
was their treatment, that since the war a Southern writer, desirous of 
removing the load of infamy resting upon the South, has advertised for 
statements of unkind treatment in Northern prisons ! 

Of the treatment of Union soldiers in the Southern prisons the United 
States Sanitary Commission says: 

"The prisoners were almost invariably robbed of everything valuable 
in their possession ; sometimes on the field, at the instant of capture, 
sometimes by the prison authorities, in a quasi-official way, with the 
promise of return when exchanged or paroled, but which promise was 
never fulfilled. This robbery amounted often to a stripping of the 
person of even necessary clothing. Blankets and overcoats were almost 
always taken, and sometimes other articles ; in which case damaged 
ones were returned in their stead. This preliminary over, the captives 
were taken to prison." 



SCENES IN SAVANNAH. 441 

The prison at Andersonville was established January, 1864, and was 
used a little more than a year. It was in the form of a quadrangle, 
1,295 feet long, 865 feet wide. A small stream, rising from neigh- 
bouring springs, flowed through the grounds. Within the enclosure, 
seventeen feet from the stockade, the dead-line was established, marked 
by small posts, to which a slight strip of board was nailed. Upon the 
inner stockade were fifty-two sentry-boxes, in which the guards stood, 
with loaded muskets ; while overlooking the enclosure were several 
forts, with field artillery in position, to pour grape and canister upon 
the perishing men at the first sign of insurrection. 

Miss Clara Barton, the heroic and tender-hearted woman who, in the 
employ of Government, visited this charnel-house to identify the graves 
of the victims, thus reports : 

" Under the most favourable circumstances and best possible manage- 
ment the supply of water would have been insufficient for half the 
number of persons who had to use it. The existing arrangements must 
have aggravated the evil to the utmost extent. The sole establishments 
for cooking and baking were placed on the bank of the stream imme- 
diately above and between the two inner lines of the palisades. The 
grease and refuse from them were found adhering to the banks at the 
time of our visit. The guards, to the number of three thousand six 
hundred, were principally encamped on the upper part of the stream, 
and when the heavy rains washed down the hillsides covered with thirty 
thousand human beings, and the outlet below failed to discharge the 
flood which backed and filled the valley, the water must have become 
so foul and loathsome that every statement I have seen of its offensive- 
ness must fall short of the reality ; and yet within rifle-shot of the 
prison flowed a stream, fifteen feet wide and three feet deep, of pure, 
delicious water. Had the prison been placed so as to include a section 
of 'Sweet Water Creek,' the inmates might have drank and bathed to 
their hearts' content." 

The prisoners had no shelter from the fierce sun of summer, the 
pelting autumn rains, or the cold of winter, except a few tattered tents. 
Thousands were destitute of blankets. For refuge they dug burrows in 
the ground. 

Miss Barton says : 

" The little caves are scooped out and arched in the form of ovens, 
floored, ceiled, and strengthened, so far as the owners had means, with 
sticks and pieces of board, and some of them are provided with fire- 



442 THE BOYS OF '61. 

places and chimneys. It would seem that there were cases, during the 
long rains, where the house would become the grave of its owner, by 
falling upon him in the night. . . . During thirteen long months they 
knew neither shelter nor protection from the changeable skies above, 
nor the pitiless, unfeeling earth beneath. . . . 

" Think of thirty thousand men penned by close stockade upon 
twenty-six acres of ground, from which every tree and shrub had been 
uprooted for fuel to cook their scanty food, huddled like cattle, without 
shelter or blanket, half clad and hungry, with the dewy night setting in 
after a day of autumn rain. The hilltop would not hold them all, the 
valley was filled by the swollen brook. Seventeen feet from the stock- 
ade ran the fatal dead-line, beyond which no man might step and live. 
What did they do ? I need not ask where did they go, for on the face 
of the whole earth there was no place but this for them. But where 
did they place themselves ? How did they live ? Ay ! how did they 
die?" 

Twelve thousand nine hundred and ninety graves are numbered on 
the neighbouring hillside, — the starved and murdered of thirteen 
months, — one thousand per month, thirty -three per day! Davis, Lee, 
Seddon, and Breckenridge may not have issued orders to starve the 
prisoners ; but if cognisant of any inhumanity, it was in the power of 
Davis to stop it, and of Lee, as commander-in-chief of the army, as also 
of Seddon, and after him Breckenridge, Secretaries of War. An order 
from either of these officials would have secured humane treatment. 

The future historian will not overlook the fact that General Lee, if 
not issuing direct orders for the starvation of Union prisoners, made no 
remonstrance against the barbarities of Andersonville, or of the course 
taken to debauch the patriotism of the Union soldiers. It was promised 
that whoever would acknowledge allegiance to the Confederacy, or con- 
sent to make shoes or harness or clothing for the rebels, should have 
the privilege of going out from the stockade, and finding comfortable 
quarters and plenty of food and clothing. Thus tempted, some faltered, 
while others died rather than be released on such terms, preferring, in 
their love for the flag, to be thrown like logs into the dead-cart, and 
tumbled into the shallow trenches on the hillside ! 

Among the prisoners was a lad who pined for his far-off Northern 
home. Often his boyish heart went out lovingly to his father and 
mother and fair-haired sister. How could he die in that prison ! How 
close his eyes on all the bright years of the future ! How lie down in 



SCENES IN SAVANNAH. 443 

death in that lonesome place, when, by taking the oath of allegiance to 
the Southern Confederacy, he could obtain freedom ? His comrades 
were dying. Every day the dead - cart came and bore them away by 
scores and hundreds. What a sight their stony eyes, sunken cheeks, 
and swaying limbs ! Around him was a crowd of living skeletons. 

" Take the oath and you shall live," said the tempter. What a trial ! 
Life was sweet. All that a man hath will he give for his life. How 
blessed if he could but hear once more the voice of his mother, or grasp 
again a father's hand ! What wonder that hunger, despair, and death, 
and the example of some of his comrades, made him weakly hesitate ? 

Too feeble to walk or to stand, he crawled away from the dying and 
the dead, over the ground reeking with filth. He had almost reached 
the gate beyond which were life and liberty. A comrade, stronger and 
older, suspected his purpose. Through the long, weary months this 
brave soldier had solaced his heart by taking at times from his bosom 
a little flag, — the Stars and Stripes, — adoring it as the most sacred 
of all earthly things. He held it before the boy. It was the flag he 
loved. He had sworn to support it, — never to forsake it. He had 
stood beneath it in the fierce conflict, quailing not when the death-storm 
was thickest. Tears dimmed his eyes as he beheld it once more. 
Tremblingly he grasped it with his skeleton fingers, kissed it, laid it on 
his heart, and cried, " God help me ! I can't turn my back upon it. 
comrade, I am dying ; but I want you, if ever you get out of this horrible 
place, to tell my mother that I stood by the old flag to the last ! " 

And then with the flag he loved lying on his heart, he closed his eyes, 
and his soul passed on to receive that reward which awaits those to 
whom duty is greater than life. 

" On Fame's eternal camping-ground 
Their silent tents are spread, 
And Glory guards, with solemn round, 
The bivouac of the dead." 

On Sunday, wishing to see how the coloured people regarded the new 
order of things, I attended one of their churches, a commodious 
edifice, with gallery and pipe-organ, and furnishings that would have 
done credit to many a community in the North. The building, I learned, 
had been erected in part by the contributions of the former slaves, and in 
part by the contributions of their masters. The Anglo-Saxon visitors were 
ushered to a seat near the pulpit. Our presence evidently was a sur- 



444 THE BOYS OF '61. 

prise. Not many of the white citizens of Savannah had attended service 
there. The services were decorous. The preacher, a coal-black African, 
whose curly locks were turning to iron-gray, prayed fervently for the 
strangers in their midst, who had come from the North on an errand of 
mercy. The aniens in response were hearty. The sermon was an 
appeal to the sinners to repent and live righteous lives. Abraham 
Lincoln was not forgotten,— the Moses who had delivered them from 
bondage. 

At the close of the sermon the minister, looking down from the pulpit, 
benignly said : " Perhaps our good friends from the North will say a few 
words to us." The three strangers, one by one, expressed their pleasure 
at being present, and rejoiced that they were free and that thenceforth 
they were to be their own masters, that there was to be no more separa- 
tion of families, that the auction block was a thing of the past. Very 
fervent and impressive were the " Amens," and " Glory to God " given 
in response. 

As I intended to spend some days in Savannah, I set out one after- 
noon in search of lodgings more commodious than those furnished at the 
Pulaski House, and I was directed to a house owned by a gentleman 
who, during the war, had resided in Paris, — a large brick mansion, 
fronting on one of the squares, elegantly finished and furnished. It had 
been taken care of, through the war, by two faithful negroes, Robert and 
his wife, Aunt Nellie, both of them slaves. 

I rang the bell, and was ushered into the basement by their daughter 
Ellen, also a slave. Robert was fifty-three years of age, — a tall, stout, 
coal-black, slow-spoken, reflective man. Aunt Nellie was a year or two 
younger. Her features were of the African type ; her eyes large and 
lustrous. Her deportment was ladylike, her language refined. She 
wore a gingham dress, and a white turban. 

Ellen, the daughter, had a fair countenance, regular features, of 
lighter hue than either father or mother. She appeared as much at 
ease as most young ladies who are accustomed to the amenities of 
society. 

Aunt Nellie called me by name. 

" 1 saw you yesterday at church," she said. 

She placed a chair for me before the fire, which burned cheerfully on 
the hearth. There was a vase of amaranths on the mantel, and litho- 
graphs on the walls. A clock ticked in one corner. There were cush- 
ioned arm-chairs. The room was neat and tidy, and had an air of 



SCENES IN SAVANNAH. 



445 



cheerfulness. A little boy, four or five years old, was sitting by the 
side of Aunt Nellie, — her grandnephew. He looked up wonderingly at 
the stranger, then gazed steadily into the fire with comical gravity. 




THENCEFORTH TO BE THEIR OWN MASTERS." 



" You are from Boston, I understand," said Aunt Nellie. " I never 
have been to Boston, but I have been to New York several times with 



my master." 



446 THE BOYS OF '61. 

" Did you have any desire to stay North ? " 

" No, sir, I can't say that I had. This was my home ; my children 
and friends, and my husband were all here." 

" But did you not wish to be free ? " 

" That is a very different thing, sir. God only knows how I longed 
to be free ; but my master was very kind. They used to tell me in 
New York that I could be free ; but I could n't make up my mind to 
leave master, and my husband. Perhaps if I had been abused as some 
of my people have, I should have thought differently about it." 

" Well, you are free now. I suppose that you never expected to see 
such a day as this ! " 

" I can't say that I expected to see it, but I knew it would come. I 
have prayed for it. I did n't hardly think it would come in my time, 
but I knew it must come, for God is just." 

" Did you not sometimes despair ? " 

" Never ! sir ; never ! But, oh, it has been a terrible mystery, to know 
why the good Lord should so long afflict my people, and keep them in 
bondage, — to be abused, and trampled down, without any rights of their 
own, — with no ray of light in the future. Some of my folks said there 
was n't any God, for if there was he would n't let white folks do as they 
have done for so many years ; but I told them to wait, and now they 
see what they have got by waiting. I told them that we were all of one 
blood, — white folks and black folks all come from one man and one 
woman, and that there was only one Jesus for all. / knew it, — I knew 
it ! " She spoke as if it were an indisputable fact, which had come by 
intuition. 

Here Aunt Nellie's sister and her husband came in. 

" I hope to make your better acquaintance," she said, courtesying. It 
is a common form of expression among the coloured people of some 
parts of the South. She was larger, taller, and stouter than Aunt 
Nellie, younger in years, less refined, — a field hand, — one who had 
drunk deeply of the terrible cup which slavery had held to her lips. 
She wore a long gray dress of coarse cloth, — a frock with sleeves, gath- 
ered round the neck with a string, — the cheapest possible contrivance 
for a dress, her only garment, I judged. 

" These are new times to you," I said. 

"It is a dream, sir, — a dream! 'Pears like I don't know where I 
am. When General Sherman come and said we were free, I did n't 
believe it, and I would n't believe it till the minister (Rev. Mr. French) 



SCENES IN SAVANNAH. 447 

told us that we were free. It don't seem as if I was free, sir." She 
looked into the fire a moment, and sat as if in a dream, but aroused her- 
self, as I said : 

" Yes, you are free." 

" But that don't give me back my children, — my children, that I 
brought forth with pains such as white women have, — that have been 
torn from my breast, and sold from me ; and when I cried for them was 
tied up and had my back cut to pieces ! " 

She stopped talking to me, raised her eyes as if looking into heaven, 
reached up her hands imploringly, and cried in agony : 

" Lord Jesus, have mercy ! How long, Lord ? Come, Jesus, and 
help me. 'Pears like I can't bear it, dear Lord. They is all taken from 
me, Lord. 'Pears like as if my heart would break. blessed Jesus, 
they say that I am free, but where are my children ! — my children ! — 
my children. 

Her hands fell, tears rolled down her cheeks. She bowed her head, 
and sat moaning, wailing, and sobbing. 

" You would n't believe me," said Aunt Nellie, speaking to her. 
" You said that there was no use in praying for deliverance ; that it was 
no use to trust God, that He had forgotten us ! " 

She rose and approached her sister, evidently to call her mind from 
the terrible reality of the past. " You used to come over here and go 
worry, worry, worry all day and all night, and say it was no use ; that 
you might as well die ; that you would be a great deal better off if you 
were dead. You would n't believe me when I said that the Lord would 
give deliverance. You would n't believe that the Lord was good ; but 
just see what He has done for you, — made you free. Are n't you 
willing to trust Him now ? " 

The sister made no reply, but sat wiping away her tears, and sighing 
over the fate of her children. 

" Did you not feel sometimes like rising against your masters ?" I 
asked of the husband. 

" Well, sir, I did feel hard sometimes, and I reckon that if it hadn't 
been for the grace which Jesus gave us we should have done so ; but He 
had compassion on us, and helped us to bear it. We knew that He 
would hear us sometime." 

" Did you ever try to escape ?" 

" No, sir. I was once interested in colonisation, and talked of going 
to Africa, — of buying myself, and go there and be free. Rev. Mr. 



448 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



Gurley came here and gave a lecture. He was the agent of the Coloni- 
sation Society, I reckon ; but just then there was so much excitement 
among the slaves about it, that our masters put a stop to it." 




POOR GIRL, SHE CAN'T FORGET HER CHILDREN!" 



" The good people of Boston are heaping coals of fire on the heads of 
the slaveholders and rebels," said Aunt Nellie. 
" How so ? " I asked. 



SCENES IN SAVANNAH. 449 

" Why, as soon as General Sherman took possession of the city, you 
sent down shiploads of provisions to them. They have fought you 
with all their might, and you whip them, and then go to feeding them." 

" I 'spect you intended that black and white folks should have them 
alike," said her sister. 

" Yes, that was the intention." 

" Not a mouthful have I had. I am as poor as white folks. All my 
life I have worked for them. I have given them houses and lands ; they 
have rode in their fine carriages, sat in their nice parlours, taken voyages 
over the waters, and had money enough, which I and my people earned 
for them. I have had my back cut up. I have been sent to jail because 
I cried for my children, which were stolen from me. I have been 
stripped of my clothing, exposed before men. My daughters have been 
compelled to break God's commandment, — they could n't help them- 
selves, — I couldn't help them; white men have done with us just as 
they please. Now they turn me -out of my poor old cabin, and say 
they own it. dear Jesus, help me ! " 

" Come, come, sister, don't take on ; but you must give thanks for 
what the Lord has done for you," said Aunt Nellie. 

Her sister rose, stately as a queen, and said : 

" I thank you, sir, for your kind words to me to-night. I thank all 
the good people in the North for what they have done for me and my 
people. The good Lord be with you." 

As she and her husband left the room, Aunt Nellie said : 

" Poor girl, she can't forget her children ! She 's cried for them day 
and night." 

Never till then had I felt the full force of Whittier's burning lines, — 

" A groan from Eutaw's haunted wood, — 
A wail where Camden's martyrs fell, — 
By every shrine of patriot blood, 

From Moultrie's wall and Jasper's well ! 

By storied hill and hallowed grot, 

By mossy wood and marshy glen, 
Whence rang of old the rifle-shot, 

And hurrying shout of Marion's men, 
The groan of breaking hearts is there, 

The falling lash, the fetter's clank ! 
Slaves, slaves are breathing in that air 

Which old De Kalb and Sumter drank I 



450 THE BOYS OF '61. 

What, ho ! our countrymen in chains ! 

The whip on woman's shrinking flesh ! 
Our soil yet reddening with the stains 

Caught from her scourging, warm and fresh ! 
What ! mothers from their children riven ! 

What ! God's own image bought and sold ! 
Americans to market driven, 

And bartered, as the brute, for gold I " 

The sisters, one a housemaid, the other a field hand, represented 
the best and the worst sides of the institutions of slavery. The lot of 
the housemaid, one who had been treated with the utmost kindness, 
gave no gilding to the institution. Slavery at its best was a relic 
of a barbaric age. 

The night of the 28th of January was a fearful one in Savannah, 
The inhabitants experienced all the terror of a bombardment combined 
with the horror of a great conflagration. A fire broke out a little 
before midnight in a long row of wooden buildings at the west end of 
the city. The wind was fresh from the northwest, and the night 
exceedingly cold. My rooms were in the Pulaski House. I was 
awakened by a sudden explosion, which jarred the house, and heard 
the cry that the arsenal was on fire. 

There was another explosion, — then a volley of shells, and large 
fragments came whirring through the air, striking the walls, or falling 
with a heavy plunge into the street. 

" There are three thousand shells in the building," said a soldier 
running past, fleeing as if for his life. 

" There are fifty tons of powder, which will go off presently," said 
another, in breathless haste. Fifty tons of powder ! Savannah would 
be racked to its foundations ! There would be a general crumbling of 
walls. Men, women, and children were running, — crying, and in fear 
of being crushed beneath the ruins of falling buildings. 

It was the arsenal. I could not believe that the Confederates would 
store fifty tons of powder in the city, and waited for the general 
explosion. It did not come. Gradually I worked my way, under the 
shelter of buildings, towards the fire. The fire-engines were deserted, 
and the fire was having its own way, licking up the buildings, one 
after another, remorselessly. 

It was a gorgeous sight, — the flames leaping high in air, thrown 
up in columns by the thirteen-inch shells, filling the air with burning 



SCENES IX SAVANNAH. 



451 



timbers, cinders, and myriads of sparks. The streets were filled with 
fugitives. The hospitals were being cleared of sick and wounded, 
the houses of furniture. 

It was grand, but terrible. General Grover at once took measures 
to arrest the progress of the flames, by tearing down buildings, and 




"TAKING POSSESSION OF THE ABANDONED LANDS. 

' bringing up several regiments, which, with the citizens and negroes, 
succeeded in mastering the destroying element. 

In the morning there was a wilderness of chimneys, and the streets 
I were strewn with furniture. 

It was amusing to see with what good humour and nonchalance the 
coloured people and the soldiers regarded the conflagration. 

Two negro women passed me, carrying great bundles on their heads. 

J] "I's clean burned out," said one. 



452 THE BOYS OF '61. 

" Let 'em burn ; who cares ? " said one soldier. " They have fought 
us, and now let 'em suffer." 

" We have got to do guard duty, and it is a little more comfortable 
to be quartered in a house than to sleep in a shelter-tent, so let us save 
the place," said another ; and the two went to work with a will to 
subdue the flames. 

General Sherman's Special Field Order No. 15, dated January 16, 
1865, permitted the freedmen to take possession of the abandoned 
lands. A meeting, called by General Saxton, who had been appointed 
Inspector, was held in the Second African Baptist Church, a large 
building, which was crowded to its utmost capacity by the coloured 
people. It was the first meeting ever held in Savannah having in 
view the exclusive interests of the coloured people. 

The organist was playing a voluntary when I entered the church. 
He was a free coloured man, a native of Charleston, having a bullet- 
shaped head, bright, sparkling eyes, and a pleasant voice. He had lived 
in Savannah nine years, and was a music teacher, giving instruction 
on the violin, pianoforte, and organ, also vocal music, to persons of his 
own race. He was in the habit of putting in clandestinely some of the 
rudiments of the English language, although it was against the peace 
and dignity of the State. He dared to open a school, and taught in 
secret in the evening ; but a policeman discovered that he was an 
incendiary, and he was compelled to hide till the matter was forgotten. 

When the voluntary was completed, the choir sung Rev. Mr. Smith's 
American hymn : 

" My country, 't is of thee, 
Sweet land of liberty, 
Of thee I sing." 

Their country ! Their liberty ! The words were no longer 
meaningless. 

General Saxton addressed them. 

" I have come to tell you what the President of the United States has 
done for you," said he. 

" God bless Massa Linkum ! " was the response of a thousand voices. 

" You are all free." 

"Glory to God! Hallelujah! Amen!" they shouted in tumultuous 
chorus. 

He explained the cause of the war ; how the rebels fired upon the 






SCENES IN SAVANNAH. 



453 



flag, how they hated freedom, and wished to perpetuate slavery, which 
produced the war, that, in turn, under God's providence, had made 
them free men. They were free, but they must labour to live. Their 




PLAYING THE BANJO ALL DAY LONG. 



relations to their masters had all been changed. They could go where 
they pleased, do what they pleased, provided they did that which was 
right ; but they had no claim upon their masters,— they must work for 



454 THE BOYS OF '61. 

themselves. All wealth came from the soil, and by cultivating the 
ground they could obtain food, and thus increase their wealth. He read 
and explained General Sherman's order, and told them of the advance- 
ment which the freedmen had made at Beaufort. They had comfortable 
homes, their children were attending school, and the men and women 
had almost forgotten that they had been slaves. One man had accumu- 
lated ten thousand dollars in four years ; another was worth five thou- 
sand. He advised them to go upon the islands and take possession of 
the abandoned lands. He also advised the young and able-bodied to 
enlist in the service of the United States. They were citizens, and they 
must begin to do their part as citizens. They were free, but there was 
still some fighting to be done to secure their liberty, something other 
than playing the banjo all day long. 

Rev. Mr. French also addressed them. 

" Your freedom," said he, " is the gift of God. The President has 
proclaimed it, and the brave men of General Sherman's army have 
brought it to you." 

" God bless General Sherman ! Amen ! That 's so ! " were the en- 
thusiastic responses. They clapped their hands, and gave expression to 
their joy in emphatic demonstrations. It was a strange sight, — a sea 
of turbaned heads in the body of the house, occupied by the women, 
wearing the brightest coloured handkerchiefs, or bonnets with flaming 
ribbons ; while above, in the galleries, were two sable clouds of faces. 
Every window was filled by a joyous, enthusiastic crowd. 

" You are to show your late masters that you can take care of your- 
selves. If I were in your place I would go, if I had to live on roots and 
take possession of the islands," said Mr. French. 

" Yes, sir, dat is what we will do. We 're gwine." 

" Show your old masters that you can work as hard to keep out of 
slavery as they did to keep you in bondage. And you must have but 
one wife, instead of two or three, as you used to do." 

There was a great sensation at this point, — an outburst of laughter 
echoing and reechoing from floor to ceiling. I was utterly unable to 
understand how the remark was received, but the sable audience evi- 
dently looked upon it as a very funny affair. The negro race has a 
quick and natural appreciation of anything bordering upon the ridicu- 
lous. They boil over with uncontrollable merriment at a very small 
matter. 

" Treat your old masters with all respect ; be generous and kind to 



SCENES IN SAVANNAH. 455 

them. This is your day of rejoicing, and they are drinking their cup 
of sorrow. Do them good, help them. Break off bad habits, be 
good citizens, truthful and honest. Now, all of you who are ready to 
scratch for a living, — who are resolved to make your own way in the 
world, — hold up your hands." 

Up went a thousand hands. 

" You owe your liberty to the men of the North, to President Lincoln, 
to the thousands who have died, — to Jesus Christ." 

Deep and solemn was the amen, — a spontaneous outburst of grati- 
tude, welling up from their sympathetic and affectionate natures. 

A prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Houston, of the Third African 
Baptist Church. It was impassioned, fervent, and earnest, in which 
there was thanksgiving, confession of sin, and a pleading for God's 
help. The President, the Union army, the Federal Government, were 
remembered. He prayed also that God would bring the rebels to see 
that they ought to lay down their arms and be at peace. 

Then in conclusion they sang the hymn, — 

" Eternal are Thy mercies, Lord, 
Eternal truth attends Thy words." 

How gloriously the grand old choral of Luther rang! Old men sang, — 
tottering upon the verge of the grave, their heads white, their voices 
tremulous, their sight dim ; women with scarred backs sang, — who had 
toiled unrequited in the malarious rice - swamps, who had prayed in 
dungeons and prisons, who had wept and moaned for their stolen babes, 
— for their husbands, mangled and torn by bloodhounds. But that was 
all of the past. The day of jubilee had dawned. They had cried day 
and night, " Lord, how long ! " But now they had only thanksgiving 
and praise. 

After the meeting there was a general shaking of hands. " Bless de 
Lord for dis yere day." " May de good Lord be wid you." " I never 
'spected to see dis yere day ; but de praise belongs to de good Lord ; he 
be wid you, brudder." 

Such were the congratulations. There were none of the white people 
of Savannah present. Before the men of the West entered the city, 
such a gathering, even for religious worship, would have been incendiary, 
unless attended by white men. But it was an inauguration of a new 
era, — a beginning of the settlement of the question over which philan- 



456 THE BOYS OF '61. 

thropists, politicians, and statesmen had puzzled their philosophic brains : 
" What shall we do with them ? " 

Rev. Mr. Houston accompanied me to my room, and gave me a his- 
tory of his life. He was forty-one years old, had always been a slave, 
and received his freedom at the hands of General Sherman. When a 
boy his master hired him out to the Marine Hospital. Waiting upon 
the sailors, he had an opportunity to hear a great deal about the world. 
They had books and papers. He had a desire to learn to read, and they, 
not having the black laws of Georgia before their eyes, taught him his 
letters. Then obtaining a Bible, and other books, he read with great 
zeal. He wanted to be a preacher, and after examination by the Baptist 
Association, was ordained to preach by white men. He purchased his 
time before the war, paying fifty dollars a month to his master, and 
became a provision dealer, yet preaching on Sundays. He leased the 
lower story of a building fronting the market, where he sold his meat, 
and where he lived. Above him, up two flights, was the slave-mart of 
Savannah. He used to go into the country, up the railroad to the 
centre of the State, to purchase cattle, and became well acquainted with 
the planters. He heard their discussions on current affairs, and thus 
received information upon the politics of the country. He gave an 
account of the state of affairs, of opinions held in the North and in the 
South at the time when Fremont was a candidate for the presidency. 

" We knew that he was our friend," said Mr. Houston, " and we 
wanted him elected. We were very much disappointed at the result of 
that election ; but we kept hoping and praying that God would have 
mercy on us as a race." 

" Did your people understand the points at issue between the South 
and the North when the war begun ? " I asked. 

" Yes, sir, I think we did. When South Carolina fired on Sumter we 
understood that the North was fighting for the Union. The flag had 
been insulted, and we thought that you of the North would have spunk 
enough to resent the insult. Those of us who could read the papers 
knew that the points at issue really were between Freedom and Slavery." 

" What did you think when we were defeated at Manassas ? Did you 
not despair ? " 

" No, sir. I knew that the North would not give in for one defeat. 
Some of our people were down-hearted, but I had faith in God, sir. I 
felt that the war must go on till we were made free. Besides, we 
prayed, sir! There have been a great many prayers, sir, offered up 



SCENES IN SAVANNAH. 457 

from broken-hearted men and women, — from negro cabins, not in 
public, — for the success of the North. They could not offer such 
supplications at church ; they were offered to a God who sees in secret, 
but who rewards openly. We are receiving all we ever asked for. 
Bless His holy name." 

" You have seen people sold in the market, I suppose ? " 

" Oh, yes, sir, thousands of them. Oh, sir, it seems as if I now could 
hear the groans and cries of mothers and fathers as they marched down 
those stairs out into the street in gangs, — their chains rattling and 
clanking on the stairs. It was hell, sir ! The wailings of the damned 
can never be more heart-rending, as they were driven out, crying, ' 
Lord ! have mercy ! massa, don't ! don't ! Oh, my poor children ! ' ' 

His eyes shone with a strange light. The muscles of his hands tight- 
ened. He arose and walked the room, wiped the tears from his eyes, 
but composing himself sat down, and said : " Iniquity was at its height 
when the war began, and it continued till General Sherman came. Oh, 
it was terrible ! terrible ! to be there in that room on the lower floor, 
and see the hundreds taken out, to see them nabbed in the streets, or 
taken from their beds at dead of night by the sheriff, and sold at once ; 
for since the war began white men have been obliged to raise money 
suddenly, and slave property being especially insecure, we were liable to 
be sold at any moment. Runaway slaves were whipped unmercifully. 
Last summer 1 saw one receive five hundred lashes out on the Gulf 
Railroad, because he could n't give an account of himself. The man 
who kept the slave market left the city with a large number of slaves 
just before Sherman came, taking them South ; but he is back in the 
city. He is a bitter old rebel." 

Mr. Houston and a party of freedmen had been to Skidaway Island to 
take possession of lands under General Sherman's order, and commence 
a colony. 

They laid out a village, also farm lots of forty acres, set aside one 
central lot for a church, another for a schoolhouse ; then placing num- 
bers in a hat, made the allotment. It was Plymouth Colony repeating 
itself. They agreed that if any others came to join them they should 
have equal privileges. So the Mayfloiver was blooming on the islands of 
the South Atlantic. 

" We shall build our cabins and organise our town government for the 
maintenance of order," said Mr. Houston. 

" I told you that I hired my time of my master," said he. " My mas- 



458 THE BOYS OF '61. 

ter hired my money, and when I asked him for it he refused to pay me ; 
and as I had no power before the law, I could not compel him, and have 
lost it. I have about five hundred hides, which I would like to send 
North. I want to purchase a portable sawmill. We shall need lumber, 
— must have it to build our houses and our church." 

Such was his plan, indicating a foresight which gave promise of a 
prosperous future. 

Passing by a church, I saw the sexton, with brush in hand, sweeping 
the aisles. The edifice was a substantial, ancient structure, with a 
mahogany pulpit of the old style, a broad aisle, chandelier pendent from 
the arched roof, filagree and panel work around the balconies. Old and 
aristocratic families had sat in the cushioned pews, men of vast 
wealth, owning houses, lands and slaves. A great organ loomed high up 
in the gallery, its gilt pipes fronting the pulpit. Marriages and funerals 
had been solemnised at the altar. For fifteen years, Sunday after Sun- 
day, this sexton had faithfully discharged his duties at the church. 

He was stout, thick -set, strong, with well -developed muscles and a 
clear eye. He was gentlemanly in his deportment, and his voice was 
the most musical I ever heard. 

" Shall I take a look at the church ? " 

" Certainly, sir. Walk in." 

His words were as if he had chanted them, so faultless the tone, inflec- 
tion, and cadence. His features were well formed, but anthracite coal is 
not blacker than his complexion. I was interested in him at once. He, 
leaning upon his broom, and I, sitting in one of the pews, had a free 
conversation upon the events of his life. 

He was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1829. 

" My old master died," said he, " and I fell to his son, who went off 
to college and got spreeing it, lost all his property and of course I had 
to be sold. I brought twelve hundred dollars, — that was in 1849, — 
but another man offered the man who bought me a hundred and fifty 
dollars bonus for his bargain, which was accepted, and I was brought to 
Charleston. I have always been a slave." 

" But you are a free man now ; just as free as I am." 

" Yes, sir, so General Sherman told me. I had a talk with him ; and 
he talked just as free with me as if I was his own brother. But I don't 
feel it in my heart, sir, to go away and leave my old master, now that 
he is poor, and calamity has come upon him." 



SCENES IN SAVANNAH. 459 

" Has he always treated you well ? " 

" Yes, sir, — that is, he never scarred my back. Some masters are 
mighty hard, sir. I don't blame some negroes for running away from 
their masters now that they can, for they have been treated mighty bad, 
sir ; but my master has had great calamity come upon him, sir. When 
I was brought here from Norfolk, master's son Bob, who is in Texas, — 
a captain in the Southern army now, — saw me, and liked me, and I 
liked him, and his father bought me for Bob, and Bob and I have been 
like brothers to each other. I have no complaint to make. But master 
has lost two sons in Virginia. One of them was killed in the first bat- 
tle of Manassas." 

" I suppose you have heard many prayers here for Jeff Davis ? " 

" Yes, sir, and mighty fine sermons for the Southern army, sir ; and 
there have been solemn scenes in this church, sir. Six bodies, one 
Sunday, after the first battle of Manassas, were here in this broad aisle. 
I had the communion table set out here, right in front of the pulpit, and 
there they lay, — six of 'em. I could n't help crying when I saw 'em, 
for they were just like old friends to me. They used to attend the 
Sunday school when they were boys, and used to cut up a little wild, 
and it was my business to keep 'em straight. They belonged to the 
Oglethorpe Light Infantry, and went with Colonel Bartow. They went 
away gaily, and thought they were going to Richmond to have a nice 
time. Their mothers and sisters told them to go and fight the Yankees. 
They did n't expect to see them brought back dead, I reckon. It was a 
sad day, sir." 

" Then the women were as eager as the men for the war ? " 

" Yes, sir, — more. They were crazy about fighting the Yankees. I 
know that some of the boys did n't want to fight against the flag, but 
the women made 'em. The men had to wear Secession badges, as some- 
thing to show that they were for the South. If it had n't been for the 
ladies, I reckon we would n't have had the war." 

" What do the women think now ? " 

" Well, sir, some of them are as bitter as ever they were against the 
Yankees, but I reckon they don't care to say much ; and then there are 
others who see it ain't no use to try to hold out any longer. There are 
lots of 'em who have lost their husbands and brothers and sons. I 
reckon there are very few of the Light Infantry left. I know 'em all, 
for I took care of their hall, — their armory, — and they made me hoist 
the flag one day union down. That made me feel very bad, sir. I 



460 THE BOYS OF '61. 

always loved the flag, and I love it now better than ever. It makes me 
feel bad to think that my boys fought against it (he meant the boys 
who attended the Sunday school). But I reckon it is the Lord's doing, 
sir, and that it will be a blessing to us in the end." 

" Can you read and write ? " I asked. 

" A little, sir. I never had any one to show me, but I used to sit 
down here in the pews and take up the hymn-book, and spell out the 
words, and one day master Bob sent me a copy in writing, and so I have 
learned a little. I can read the newspapers, sir, and have kept track of 
the war." 

Upon the first battle of Manassas, the Peninsular campaigns, the 
blowing up of the Merrimac, the battles of Antietam, Gettysburg, 
Vicksburg, New Orleans, and Sherman's campaign, he was well in- 
formed. He had a brother who was fighting for the Union. 

" He is a brave fellow, and I know he won't show the white feather," 
said he. 

We talked upon the prospects of the coloured people now that they 
were free. 

" I reckon, sir," said he, " that a good many of 'em will be disap- 
pointed. They don't know what freedom is. But they will find that 
they have got to work, or else they won't get anything to eat. They are 
poor, ignorant creatures ; but I reckon, sir, that after a while, when 
things get settled, they will learn how to take care of themselves. But 
I think they are mighty foolish to clear out and leave their old masters, 
when they can have good situations, and good pay, and little to do. 
Then, sir, it is kind of ungrateful like, to go away and leave their 
old masters when the day of calamity comes. I could not do it, sir ; 
besides, I reckon I will be better off to stay here for the present, 
sir." 

I informed him that I was from Massachusetts. 

" I know something about Massachusetts, and I reckon it is a mighty 
fine State, sir. I have heard you abused, and the people of Boston, also. 
Savannah people said hard things about you : that you were abolitionists, 
and wanted the negroes to have equal privileges with the white men. 
My father, when I was in Norfolk, undertook to get to Massachusetts, 
but he was hunted down in the swamps and sold South, away down to 
Alabama, and that is the last I have heard of him. I have always 
liked Massachusetts. I reckon you are a liberal people up there. I 
hear you have sent a ship-load of provisions to us poor people." 



SCENES IN SAVANNAH. 461 

I gave him information upon the subject, and spoke of Mr. Edward 
Everett, who made a speech at the meeting in Faneuil Hall. 

" Mr. Everett ! I reckon I heard him talk about General Washington 
once here, five or six years ago. He was a mighty fine speaker, sir. 
The house was crowded." 

The sun was setting, and the sexton had other duties. As I left the 
church, he said : " Come round, sir, some afternoon, and I will take you 
up to the steeple, so that you can get a sight of the city, and may be you 
play the organ. I love to hear music, sir." 

How strangely this will read fifty years hence ! The words slave, — 
master, — sold, — hunted down, will make this present time seem an 
impossibility to those who live after us. This sexton — a slave — heard 
the minister preach of the loosing of the bonds of the oppressed, and of 
doing unto others as they would be done by, yet he found in his own 
experience such a Gospel a lie. His bonds were not loosened ; and the 
boys of the Sunday school, the petted sons of Savannah, went out from 
their aristocratic homes to perpetuate that lie. At last, through war, 
came deliverance ; and yet there was so much gentleness in the heart of 
. this man, that in the day of calamity which came to his master, when 
his sons one by one were killed in their endeavours to sustain that lie ; 
when his property disappeared like dew before the morning sun ; when 
his pride was humiliated ; when his daughters, who were expectants of 
immense fortunes, were compelled to do menial service, — this servant, 
though a free man, could not find it in his heart to leave them, and take 
the liberty he loved ! It may have been an exceptional case ; but it 
shows an interesting feature of Southern life. The words of this sexton 
of Savannah will adorn the historic page. " I reckon, sir, that it is the 
J Lord's doing, and that it will be a blessing to us in the end." 

Society in the South, and especially in Savannah, had undergone a 
great change. The extremes of social life were very wide apart before 
the war ; they were no nearer the night before Sherman marched into 
the city ; but the morning after there was a convulsion, an upheaval, 
a shaking up and a settling down of all the discordant elements. The 
tread of the Army of the West, as it moved in solemn column through 
the streets, was like a moral earthquake, overturning aristocratic pride, 
privilege, and power. 

Old houses, with foundations laid deep and strong in the centuries, 
fortified by wealth, name, and influence, went down beneath the shock. 
The general disruption of the former relations of master and slave, and 



462 THE BOYS OF '61. 

forced submission to the Union arms, produced a common level. A 
reversal of the poles of the earth would hardly have produced a greater 
physical convulsion than this sudden and unexpected change in the 
social condition of the people of the city. 

On the night before Sherman entered the place there were citizens 
who could enumerate their wealth by millions ; at sunrise the next 
morning they were worth scarcely a dime. Their property had been in 
cotton, negroes, houses, land, Confederate bonds and currency, railroad 
and bank stocks. Government had seized their cotton ; the negroes had 
possession of their lands ; their slaves had become freemen ; their 
houses were occupied by troops ; Confederate bonds were waste paper ; 
their railroads were destroyed ; their banks insolvent. They had not 
only lost wealth, but they had lost their cause. And there were some 
who were willing to confess that they had been fighting for a system 
of iniquity. 

One could not ask for more courteous treatment than I received 
during my stay in Savannah. I am indebted to many ladies and gen- 
tlemen of that city for kind invitations to pass an evening with them. 
There was no concealment of opinion on either side, but with the 
utmost good feeling full expression was given to our differing sentiments. 

" We went into the war in good faith ; we thought we were right ; we 
confidently expected to establish our independence ; but we are whipped, 
and have got to make the best of it," was the frank acknowledgment of 
several gentlemen. 

" I hate you of the North," said a young lady. It came squarely, and 
the tone indicated a little irritation. 

" I am very sorry for it. I can hardly think that you really hate us. 
You don't hate me individually ? " 

" Oh, no. You come here as a gentleman. I should indeed be rude 
and unladylike to say that I hated you ; but I mean the Yankees in 
general. We never can live together in peace." 

" If I were to reside here, you, of course, would treat me courteously 
so long as I was a gentleman in my deportment ?" 

" Certainly ; but you are an individual." 

" But if two individuals can live peacefully, why not ten, — or a hun- 
dred, — a thousand, — all ? " 

She hesitated a moment; and then, with flashing eyes and flushed 
countenance, which added charms to her beauty, said, " Well, it is hard 
— and you will not think any worse of me for saying it — to have your 



SCENES IN SAVANNAH. 463 

friends killed, your servants all taken away, your lands confiscated ; and 
then know that you have failed, — that you have been whipped. I wish 
that we had the power to whip you ; but we have n't, and must make 
the best of it. What we are to do I don't know. We have been able 
to have everything that money could buy, and now we have n't a dollar. 
I don't care anything about keeping the negroes in slavery ; but there is 
one feeling which we Southerners have that you cannot enter into. My 
old mamma who nursed me is just like a mother to me ; but there is one 
thing that I never will submit to, — that the negro is our equal. He 
belongs to an inferior race." 

She laid down the argument in the palm of her hand with a great 
deal of emphasis. 

" Your energy, boldness, and candour are admirable. If under defeat 
and disaster you sat down supinely and folded your hands, there would 
be little hope of your rising again ; but your determination to make the 
best of it shows that you will adapt yourself readily to the new order of 
things. There never will be complete equality in society. Political and 
social equality are separate and distinct. Rowdies and ragamuffins have 
natural rights ; they may have a right to vote, they may be citizens ; but 
that does not necessarily entitle them to free entrance into our homes." 

The idea was evidently new to the young lady, and not only to her, 
but to all in the room. To them the abolition of slavery was the break- 
ing down of all social distinctions. So long as the negro was compelled 
to enter the parlour as a servant, they could endure his presence ; but 
freedom implied the possibility, they imagined, of his entrance as an 
equal, entitled to a place at their firesides and a seat at their tables. 
The thought was intolerable. 

The poor whites of the South were far below the coloured people in 
ability and force of character. They were a class from which there is 
little hope. Nothing aroused their ambition. Like the Indians, they 
were content with food for to-day ; to-morrow will take care of itself. 
In the cities they swarmed along the sides of buildings on sunny days, 
and at night crawled into their miserable cabins with little more aspira- 
tion than dogs that seek their kennels. Undoubtedly there is far less 
suffering among the poor of the Southern cities than among the poor of 
New York, where life is ever a struggle with want. The South has a 
milder climate, nature requires less labour for production, and the com- 
mercial centres are not overcrowded. The poor whites of the South 
maintain no battle with starvation, but surrender resignedly to poverty. 



464 THE BOYS OF '61. 

They can exist without much labour, and are too indolent to strive to 
rise to a higher level of existence. The war had taken their best blood. 
Only shreds and dregs remained. 

" What can be done for the poor whites ? " 

It is a momentous question for the consideration of philanthropists 
and statesmen. 

They are very ignorant. Their dialect is a mixture of English and 
African, having words and phrases belonging to neither language ; 
though the patois is not confined to this class, but is sometimes heard in 
sumptuously furnished parlours. 

" I suppose that you will not be sorry when the war is over," I re- 
marked to a lady in Savannah. 

" No, sir. I reckon the Confederacy is done gone for," was the reply. 

It is reported that a North Carolina colonel of cavalry was heard to 
address his command thus, — " 'Tention, battalion. Prepare to gen on to 
yer critters. Git ! " 

The order to ride rapidly was, " Dust right smart ! " 

Young ladies said paw, for pa, maw, for ma, and then, curiously 
adding another vowel sound, they said hear for car, thear for there. 

The poor whites of the country were called " poor white trash," 
" crackers," " clay-eaters," " sand hillers," and " swamp angels," by the 
educated whites. There was no homogeneity of white society. The 
planters, as a rule, had quite as much respect for the negroes as for the 
shiftless whites. 

The poor whites were exceedingly bitter against the North ; it was 
the bitterness of ignorance, — brutal, cruel, fiendish, produced by caste, 
by the spirit of slavery. There is more hope, therefore, for the blacks 
in the future, than of this degraded class. The coloured people believed 
that the people of the North were their friends. Freedom, food, schools, 
all were given by the Yankees ; hence gratitude and confidence on the 
part of the freedmen ; hence, on the part of the poor whites, hatred 
of the North and cruelty toward the negro. Idleness, not occupation, 
had been, and is, their normal condition. It is ingrained in their nature 
to despise work. Indolence is a virtue, laziness no reproach. Thus 
slavery arrayed society against every law of God, moral and physical. 

The poor whites were in bondage as well as the blacks, and to all ap- 
pearance will remain so, while the natural buoyancy of the negro makes 
him rise readily to new exigencies ; with freedom he is at once eager to 
obtain knowledge and acquire landed estates. 



SCENES IN SAVANNAH. 465 

The coloured people who had taken up lands on the islands under 
General Sherman's order met for consultation in the Slave Market, at the 
corner of St. Julian Street and Market Square. I passed up the two 
flights of stairs down which thousands of slaves had been dragged, 
chained in coffle, and entered a large hall. At the farther end was an 
elevated platform about eight feet square, — the auctioneer's block. 
The windows were grated with iron. In an anteroom at the right 
women had been stripped and exposed to the gaze of brutal men. A 
coloured man was praying when I entered, giving thanks to God for the 
freedom of his race, and asking for a blessing on their undertaking. 
After prayers, they broke out into singing. Lieutenant Ketchum, of 
General Saxton's staff, who had been placed in charge of the confiscated 
lands, was present to answer their questions. 

" I would like to know what title we shall have to our lands, or to 
the improvements we shall make ? " was the plain question of a tall 
black man. 

" You will have the faith and honour of the United States," was the 
reply. 

Rev. Mr. French informed them that the Government could not give 
them deeds of the land, but that General Sherman had issued the order, 
and, without doubt, President Lincoln would see it was carried out. 
" Can't you trust the President who gave you your freedom ? " he asked. 

A stout man, with a yellow complexion, rose in the centre of the 
house ; " I have a house here in the city. I can get a good living here, 
and I don't want to go to the islands unless I can be assured of a title 
to the land ; and I think that is the feeling of four-fifths present." 

" That 's so ! " " Yes, brother ! " was responded. There was evi- 
dently a reluctance to becoming pioneers in such an enterprise, — to 
leaving the city unless the guaranty were sure. 

Another man rose. " My bredren, I want to raise cotton and I 'm 
gwine." 

It was a short but effective speech. With keen, sharp intellect, he 
had comprehended the great commercial question of the day. He knew 
that it would pay to raise cotton on lands which had been held at fabu- 
lous prices when the staple was worth but ten or fifteen cents. He was 
going to improve the opportunity to raise cotton, even if he did not 
become a holder of the estate. 

" I 'm gwine ye, brudder ! " " So will I ! " and there was a general 
shaking of hands as if that were sealing a contract. Having determined 



466 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



to go, they joined in singing " The Freedmen's Battle-Hymn," sung as 
a solo and repeated in chorus : 

Freedmen's Battle-Hymn. 




I'll fight for lib - er - ty, 
-0 • 0- 



-#- -0- -0- -0- -+- -0- 



1*11 fight for lib - er. 

g-T -j J • J — k 



:3: 



* — r- i — r 




The coloured soldiers of Foster's army sang it at the battle of 
Honey Hill, while preparing to go into the fight. How gloriously it 
sounded now, sung by five hundred freedmen in the Savannah slave 
mart, where some of the singers had been sold in days gone by ! It 
was worth a trip from Boston to Savannah to hear it. 

The next morning, in the same room, I saw a school of one hundred 
coloured children assembled, taught by coloured teachers, who sat on 
the auctioneer's platform, from which had risen voices of despair 
instead of accents of love, brutal cursing instead of Christian teaching. 
I listened to the recitations, and heard their songs of jubilee. The 
slave mart transformed to a schoolhouse ! Civilisation and Christianity 
had indeed begun their beneficent work. 

Planters from the interior of the State were bringing their cotton 
to market in flatboats. 

I made excursions into the surrounding country, visited Thunder 
Bolt battery, constructed by the Confederates, rode along country roads, 
through old fields, and through forests of live-oak, sombre with the 
long trails of moss swaying from the branches. 



SCENES IN SAVANNAH. 



467 



The negroes were selecting patches of ground for planting, going out 
in the early morning in squads. It was noticeable that they would not 




"PLANTERS . . . WERE BRINGING THEIR COTTON TO MARKET IN ELATBOATS. 

work alone. They must have company, somebody to join in the chorus 
of their songs. Desire for sociability was a marked characteristic. 

War had left its desolation upon the entire section. The former 
owners of the plantations had fled, or were serving in Southern armies, 



468 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



or were at rest forever in unknown graves on the fields where battles 
had been fought, giving their lives ostensibly to maintain the rights of the 




"GOING OUT IN THE EARLY MORNING. 



States, but in reality to perpetuate a system which was antagonistic 
to the growing consciousness of the whole human race. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

SHERMAN IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 

General Sherman received, soon after his arrival in Savannah, in- 
structions from General Grant to hasten with his army to James River. 
Transports were sent down for the shipment of the troops. Grant 
desired to combine the two great armies, throw Sherman upon his own 
left flank, and sever Lee's communications with the South, and also pre- 
vent his escape. Through all the long months of summer, autumn, and 
winter, — from June to February, — Grant had put forth his energies to 
accomplish this object, but had not been able to cut the Danville road, 
Lee's chief line of supply or retreat. The arrival of Sherman upon the 
seacoast made the plan feasible. 

But that officer thought it better to march northward, driving the 
enemy before him, and finish up the entire rebel forces on the Atlantic 
coast ; besides, South Carolina deserved a retribution as severe as that 
which had been meted out to Georgia. He also believed that he could 
thus join Grant quite as soon as by the more circuitous route by water. 
Grant assented to the proposition, and having full confidence in the abil- 
ity of his lieutenant, left him to cooperate in the manner he thought 
most advisable. 

The Confederates expected that Sherman would move upon Charles- 
ton, but such was not his intention. He determined to make a move- 
ment which would compel its evacuation, while at the same time he 
could drive the forces in the interior of the State northward, and, by 
destroying all the railroads in his progress, and severing Lee from the 
agricultural regions of the South, so cripple his resources as to paralyse 
the rebel army before Richmond, and bring the war to a speedy close. 

He wished to preserve his army entire, and accordingly a division of 
the Nineteenth Corps, which had fought under Emory in the Southwest 
and under Grover in the Shenandoah, having no enemy to pursue after 
the annihilation of Early, was sent down to garrison Savannah, Grover 
being made commandant of the post. 

General Howard, commanding the right wing, took transports with 

469 



470 THE BOYS OF '61. 

the Seventeenth Corps, Blair's, for Beaufort, whence he pushed into the 
interior, striking the Charleston and Savannah Railroad at Pocatoligo, 
and establishing there a depot of supplies. The Fifteenth Corps, 
Logan's, followed, except Corse's division, which, being prevented by 
freshets from marching direct to Pocatoligo, moved with the left wing, 
commanded by Williams, joining the Twentieth Corps, and crossing the 
Savannah marched to Hardeeville, on the Charleston Railroad, and 
opened communication with Howard. 

General Howard and General Williams both extended courteous invi- 
tations to me to accompany them in the march northward. It was a 
courtesy not easily declined, but a newspaper correspondent must ever 
forego personal preference, if he would render acceptable service to his 
constituency. It seemed reasonable to conclude that Sherman's move- 
ment through the interior of South Carolina would compel the Confed- 
erates to evacuate Charleston. 

It was this city in which Secession was inaugurated ; the city which 
the people of the North hoped to see humiliated. The people of Charles- 
ton confidently expected that Sherman's next movement would be in 
that direction ; the Northern people expected the same. General Sher- 
man made no statement in regard to the proposed movement, but as he 
intended to live largely upon the country, it was reasonable to conclude 
that he would avoid the sparsely settled section along the seacoast, and 
that his line of march would be inland away from the broad rivers and 
estuaries of the seacoast section. 

Having a desire to enter Charleston, and knowing that if I accom- 
panied the army I would have no means of communicating with the 
paper I represented, I declined the kind courtesies, and awaited coming 
events at Port Royal, where General Gillmore, in command of the 
department, had established his headquarters. 

The march began with the movement of the Fourteenth Corps and 
Geary's division of the Twentieth, to Sister's Ferry, fifty miles above 
Savannah. The detour was necessary on account of the flooding of the 
country by freshets. The gunboat Pontiac was sent up to cover the 
crossing. When Slocum reached the river at Sister's Ferry he found 
it three miles in width, and too deep to ford, and was obliged to 
wait till the 7th of February before he could cross. This movement 
deceived Hardee and Beauregard. The presence of Howard at Pocatoligo 
looked like an advance upon Charlestown, while Slocum being at 
Sister's Ferry indicated an attack upon Augusta. The Confederate 






i 



SHEKMAN IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 473 

commanders therefore undertook to hold a line a hundred miles in 
length. D. H. Hill was hurried to Augusta, Hardee took position at 
Branchville, while Beauregard remained at Charleston. This scatter- 
ing of the forces made Sherman's task comparatively easy, as their 
combined army would hardly have been a match for Sherman in a 
pitched battle on a fair field. His troops had entire confidence in them- 
selves and in their commander. Having fought their way from Chatta- 
nooga to Atlanta, having marched to the sea and taken Fort McAllister 
and Savannah, they believed there was no obstacle which they could 
not overcome in marching or fighting. 

Wilmington had been captured, and Sherman proposed to receive his 
next supplies from the coast. 

" I shall reach Goldsboro' about the 15th of March," said Sherman to 
his chief quartermasters, who at once made preparations to forward 
supplies from Morehead City in North Carolina. 

Sherman held a conference with Admiral Dahlgren on the 22d of 
January, and with General Foster, commanding the Department of the 
South. All the troops in that quarter were to be employed in a 
movement against Charleston. General Foster being in feeble health, 
Major-General Gillmore, who had charge of the department during the 
summer, and who had conducted the engineering operations against 
Wagner and Sumter, again took command. 

The march of the right wing, under Howard, commenced on the 1st 
of February. Howard found obstructions on all the roads. The negroes 
from the plantations had been impressed into the Confederate service to 
burn bridges, fell trees, and open sluice-ways ; but his Pioneer Corps 
was so thoroughly organised that such obstacles did not greatly impede 
his progress. 

The Salkehatchie River runs southeast, and reaches the Atlantic mid- 
way between Charleston and Savannah. Howard moved up its southern 
bank,, northwest, till he reached River's bridge, thirty-five miles above 
Pocatoligo. 

It was a weary inarch, through swamps, mud, and pine-barrens. 
River's bridge and Beaufort bridge were held by the rebels, who were 
strongly posted. Blair, with the Seventeenth Corps, was ordered to 
carry the first, and Logan, with the Fifteenth, the latter. Blair detailed 
Mower's and Corse's divisions for the work. The troops saw before 
them a swamp three miles wide, overflowed, with soft mire beneath, 
filled with gnarled roots of gigantic trees. It was mid-winter. The air 



474 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



was keen. They knew not the depth of the water. The forest was 
gloomy. Above them waved the long gray tresses of moss. There was 
nothing of pomp and circumstance to inspire them. It was an under- 
taking full of hazard. They must shiver an hour in the water, breast 
deep, before they could reach the enemy. But they hesitated not an 

instant when the order was 
given to move. They stepped 
into the water jocosely, as if 
upon a holiday excursion. 

A Confederate brigade 
guarded the farther shore ; 
flanking it, and reaching the 
firm land below the bridge, 
the troops rushed recklessly 
forward, and quickly drove 
the enemy from his strong 
position, losing but seventeen 
killed and seventy wounded. 

Thus by one dash the line 
of the Salkehatchie was bro- 
ken, and Hardee retired be- 
hind the Edisto to Branch- 
ville. The railroad from 
Charleston to Augusta was 
reached the next day, and 
D. H. Hill at Augusta, with 
one-third of the entire force, 
was severed from Hardee and Beauregard. For three days Howard's 
men were engaged in destroying the railroad west of the Edisto, waiting 
also for the left wing, which had been detained by freshets. 

Kilpatrick, meanwhile, had pushed well up towards Augusta, driving 
Wheeler, burning and destroying property, and threatening Hill. The 
Confederates everywhere were in a state of consternation. They could 
not divine Sherman's intentions. The people of Charleston, who for 
four years had heard the thunder of cannon day and night down the 
harbour, and had come to the conclusion that it was impossible the city 
could ever be taken, now thought Sherman was intending to knock for 
admission at the back door. The people of Augusta saw that their fair 
town was threatened. It had been an important place to the Confeder- 




MA.TOR- GENERAL JOHN A. LOGAN. 



SHERMAN IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 



475 



ates through the war, contributing largely to help on the Rebellion by 
its manufacturing industry. Citizens fled from Charleston to Cheraw, 
Columbia, Winsboro', and other towns up the Santee and Catawba, little 
thinking that they were jumping from the " frying-pan into the fire." 

Branch ville is sixty- 
two miles northwest of 
Charleston, on the north 
bank of the Edisto. 
Hardee expected to see 
Sherman at that place, 
and made elaborate 
preparations to defend 
it, as it lay in the path to 
Charleston. But Sher- 
man, instead of turning 
southeast, kept his eye 
on the north star, and 
moved on Orangeburg, 
thirteen miles north of 
Branchville, where also 
the Confederates were 
prepared to make a 
stand ; but the Seven- 
teenth Corps made one 
dash, and the enemy fled 
from a long breastwork 
of cotton-bales. This was 
on the 12th of February. 
Meanwhile General 
Hatch, with a portion 
of Gillmore's troops, was 
threatening Charleston 
along the coast. 

A division, under General Potter, accompanied by a large number of 
gunboats, went to Bull's Bay, north of Charleston, as if to approach the 
city from that quarter. The monitors were inside the bar. There were 
Union troops on Morris's Island, ready to move, while the batteries kept 
up their fire, sending shells into the city. Thus from every point except 
on the northern side Charleston was threatened. 




BRIGADIER -GENERAL JUDSON KILPATRICK. 



476 THE BOYS OF '61. 

It was not till Howard was well up towards Columbia that Hardee 
saw he had been completely flanked, and that Sherman had no intention 
of going to Charleston. The only force in front of Sherman was 
Wheeler's and Wade Hampton's cavalry, with straggling bands of infan- 
try. Hampton's home was Columbia. He was rich, and had a palatial 
residence. He was an aristocrat, in principle and action. He was 
bitter in his hatred of the Union and the men of the North. He had 
fought upon nearly all the battle-fields of Virginia, and, doubtless, in 
common with most of the people of his State, had not thought it possible 
the war should reach his own door. But Sherman was there, and, being 
powerless to defend the capital of the State, he was reckless to destroy. 

Columbia had been a depot of supplies through the war. In view of 
its occupation, Sherman gave written orders to Howard to spare all 
dwellings, colleges, schools, churches, and private property, but to 
destroy the arsenals and machinery for the manufacture of war material. 

Howard threw a bridge across the river three miles above the city, 
and Stone's brigade of Wood's division of the Fifteenth Corps was sent 
across. The mayor came out in his carriage, and made a formal sur- 
render to Colonel Stone, who marched up the streets, where huge piles 
of cotton were burning. Hampton, in anticipation of the giving up of 
the city, had caused the cotton to be gathered, public as well as private, 
that it might be burned. There were thousands of bales. Negroes 
were employed to cut the ropes that bound them, and apply the torch. 
As Stone marched in the last of Hampton's troops moved out. The 
wind was high, and flakes of burning cotton were blown about the 
streets, setting fire to the buildings. The soldiers used their utmost 
exertions to extinguish the flames, working under the direction of their 
officers. The whole of Wood's division was sent in for the purpose, but 
very little could be done towards saving the city. The fire raged 
through the day and night. Hundreds of families were burned out, and 
reduced from opulence, or at least competency, to penury. It was a 
terrible scene of suffering and woe, — men, women, and children fleeing 
from the flames, surroimded by a hostile army, composed of men whom 
they had called vandals, ruffians, the slime of the North, the pests of 
society, and whom they had looked upon with haughty contempt, as 
belonging to an inferior race. Indescribable their anguish ; and yet no 
violence was committed, no insulting language or action given by those 
soldiers. Sherman, Howard, Logan, Hazen, Wood, — nearly all of 
Sherman's officers, — did what they could to stay the flames and allevi- 



SHERMAN IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 477 

ate the distress. They experienced no pleasure in beholding the agony 
of the people of Columbia. 

General Sherman thus vindicates himself in his official report, and 
charges the atrocity upon Wade Hampton : 

" I disclaim on the part of my army any agency in this fire, but, on 
the contrary, claim that we saved what of Columbia remains uncon- 
sumed. And without hesitation I charge General Wade Hampton with 
having burned his own city of Columbia, — not with a malicious intent, 
or as the manifestation of a silly ' Roman stoicism,' but from folly and 
want of sense, in filling it with lint, cotton, and tinder. Our officers 
and men on duty worked well to extinguish the flames ; but others not 
on duty, including the officers who had long been imprisoned there, res- 
cued by us, may have assisted in spreading the fire after it had once 
begun, and may have indulged in unconcealed joy to see the ruin of the 
capital of South Carolina." 

It is claimed that Sherman did not regard private property, but des- 
troyed it indiscriminately with that belonging to the Confederate Gov- 
ernment. Was there any respect shown by the Confederate authorities ? 
Cotton, resin, turpentine, stores owned by private individuals, were 
remorselessly given to the flames by the Confederates themselves, and 
their acts were applauded by the people of the South as evincing heroic 
self-sacrifice. 

South Carolina was ruled by a clique, composed of wealthy men, of 
ancient name, who secured privileges and prerogatives for themselves at 
the expense of the people, who had but little voice in electing their 
lawgivers. 

The basis of representation in the Legislature was exceedingly com- 
plex. In the House of Representatives it was a mixture of property, 
population, white inhabitants, taxation, and slaves. In the Senate it 
consisted of geographical extent, white and slave population, taxation, 
and property. The Senate was constituted after the " Parish system," 
which gave the whole control of political affairs in the State into the 
hands of a few wealthy men from the seacoast. 

There were two distinct classes of people in South Carolina, — the 
lowlanders and the uplanders. The original settlers of the lowlands 
were emigrants from England and France, gentlemen with aristocratic 
ideas. The settlers of the uplands, in the western counties, were pio- 
neers from Virginia and North Carolina, — small farmers, cultivating 
their own lands. During the Revolutionary War the uplanders were 



478 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Whigs, the lowlanders Tories. The lowlanders had wealth, the up- 
landers were poor. When the Constitution was formed, organising a 
State Government, the lowlanders took care of their own interests. 
The lowlands in Colonial times were divided into parishes, and with 
the forming of the Constitution each parish was to have a Senator. 
The uplands, not being parishes, were districts of much larger territo- 
rial arear, hence political power fell into the hands of a few individuals 
along the coast. As white population increased in the districts, and de- 
creased or remained stationary in the parishes, the up-country men tried 
to emancipate themselves from political serfdom, but there was no rem- 
edy except by an amendment to the Constitution, through a convention 
called by the Legislature ; and as the lowlanders had control of that 
body, there was no redress. The State, therefore, became an engine of 
political power, managed and worked by a few men from Charleston, 
Beaufort, St. Helena, Edisto, Colleton, and other parishes along the sea- 
coast. 

Nature gave South Carolina sunny skies and a genial clime. The 
sea contributed an atmosphere which gained for Edisto and St. Helena 
islands the monopoly in the world's markets for cotton of the finest 
fibre. Wealth increased with the gathering in of each new crop, and 
with wealth came additional power. Superiority of political privilege 
made the few impatient of restraint and ambitious not only to control 
State, but national affairs. South Carolina attempted defiance of na- 
tional law in 1832, and was defeated. 

The parishes governed the State solely in the interests of slavery. It 
gave them power, to perpetuate which they made slavery aggressive. 

The slaveholders saw that political power in national affairs was slip- 
ping from their grasp, through the rapid development of the northern 
section of the country, and determined to secede from the Union. How 
little they comprehended the power of a free people will be seen by one 
or two quotations. 

Upon the assembling of the Legislature for the choice of presidential 
electors, 1860, the President of the Senate, W. D. Porter, of Charleston, 
said to his fellow legislators : 

" All that is dear and precious to this people, — life, fortune, name, 
and history, — all is committed to our keeping for weal or for woe, for 
honour or for shame. Let us do our part, so that those who come after 
us shall acknowledge that we were not unworthy of the great trusts 
devolved upon us, and not unequal to the great exigencies by which 



SHERMAN IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 



479 



we were tried. ... No human power can withstand or break down a 
united people, standing upon their own soil and defending their own 
firesides." 




"COTTON OF THE FINEST FIBRE. 



A senator said : 

For himself he would unfurl the Palmetto flag, fling it to the breeze, 
and with the spirit of a brave man determine to live and die as became 



480 THE BOYS OF '61. 

our glorious ancestors, and ring the clarion notes of defiance in the face 
of an insolent foe." 

Said Mr. Parker : 

" It is no spasmodic effort that has come suddenly upon us ; it has 
been gradually culminating for a long period of thirty years. At last 
it has come to that point where one may say the matter is entirely 
right." 

" 1 have been engaged in this movement ever since I entered political 
life," said Lawrence M. Keitt. 

" It is not anything produced by Mr. Lincoln's election or by the non- 
execution of the Fugitive Slave Law. It has been a matter which has 
been gathering head for thirty years," said R. Barnwell Rhett. 

It was the fire of 1832 naming anew. No rights had been invaded. 
That Secession was inaugurated without cause must ever be the verdict 
of history. And history will forever hold John C. Calhoun, R. Barnwell 
Rhett, Right Rev. Bishop Elliott, Rev. Dr. Thornwell, and other states- 
men, editors, ministers, — members of the slaveholding forum, bar, and 
pulpit, — responsible for all the suffering, bloodshed, and desolation 
which have come to the country. 

Proud in spirit was South Carolina just then. The cotton crop was 
luxuriant. Planters were plethoric with money. The infernal slave- 
trade established its marts of human flesh all through the South. 
Virginia became slave-breeding, and South Carolina slave-consuming. 
In former years slavery was deemed an evil, a curse ; but the call for 
cotton, its rise in market value, with increased profit for culture and a 
consequent demand for labour, transformed it into a blessing, to be per- 
petuated for the best good of the human race. 

It was found to be in perfect accordance with the teachings of the 
Bible. The system itself was right ; the abuse of the good was only 
evil. Rev. Dr. Thornwell, Professor of Theology in the Presbyterian 
Seminary at Columbia, came boldly forward to advocate slavery as a 
divine institution, ordained of God for the welfare of the human race. 
I quote from an article contributed by him to the Southern Presbyterian 
Review. 

"Our slaves are our solemn trust, and while we have a right to use 
and direct their labours, we are bound to feed, clothe, and protect them, 
to give them the comforts of this life, and to introduce them to the hope 
of a blessed immortality. They are moral beings, and it will be found 
that in the culture of their moral nature we reap the largest reward 



SHERMAN IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 



481 



from their service. The relation itself is moral, and in the tender 
affections and endearing sympathies it evokes it gives scope for the most 
attractive graces of human character. Strange as it may sound to those 
who are not familiar with the system, slavery is a school of virtue, and no 
class of men have furnished sublimer instances of heroic devotion than 
slaves, in their loyalty and love to their masters. We have seen them 
rejoice at the cradle of the infant, and weep at the bier of the dead ; and 
there are few among us who have not drawn their nourishment from 
their generous breasts." 

Slavery was the corner-stone and foundation of the Confederacy. 
Never was the trade in slaves between States so thriving as during the 
winter of 1860. And the leaders of the Rebellion were looking forward 
to the time when the commerce with Africa would be reopened. Mr. 
Lamar, of Savannah, who during the Rebellion was agent of the Con- 
federacy in London for the purchase of army supplies, imported in the 
bark Wanderer a cargo of native Africans, some of whom were sold in 
Charleston. There was a large party in the Confederate Congress 
which advocated the resumption of the foreign trade, the abolition of 
which in 1808 was set down as one of the grievances of the South. 

The reasons for Secession as set forth in the ordinances of the 
several States was the alleged violation of the rights of the States, but 
the calm verdict of history will be that it was to perpetuate the institu- 
tion of slavery. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

OCCUPATION OF CHARLESTON. 

I MADE my headquarters at Hilton Head, waiting for what might 
come from Sherman's movement, and the movement of the troops 
under General Hatch, who advanced to Jacksboro on the Edisto. From 
a scout I obtained, copies of the Charleston Courier, which called upon 
the people to imitate Russia in the burning of Moscow rather than per- 
mit the city to fall into the hands of the invaders. General Gillmore 
planned a movement to Bull's Bay, twenty miles north of Charleston, 
making a demonstration to land a force, and threaten the city from that 
direction. Concluding that the combined movements would compel the 
Confederate General Hardee to evacuate the city, I stepped on board the 
steamer Fulton on the morning of February 17th, and was taken to the 
blockading fleet. Before reaching the vessels I could see a great column 
of smoke rising heavenward in the direction of Charleston. A little 
nearer, and a blessed sight greeted my vision — the Stars and Stripes 
waving over all that was left of Sumter. The Confederates had evac- 
uated the city during the night, and an officer from the fleet had raised 
it over the shapeless ruins where Secession in 1861 had humiliated it. 

The Fulton was bound for New York. It was an enthusiastic 
despatch which I hastily pencilled, this its opening sentence : " The old 
flag waves over Sumter, Moultrie, and the city of Charleston. I can see 
its crimson stripes and fadeless stars waving in the warm sunlight of this 
glorious day. Thanks be to God who giveth the victory." 

I had scarcely five minutes to write before the Fulton was to remove 
her course for New York. The correspondents of other papers were en- 
trusting their despatches to the purser of the steamer ; mine was given to 
a passenger. Knowing that the vessel upon reaching the dock would 
probably bump her nose against it, throw out a line and work her way 
in, stern foremost, I instructed the gentleman to stand with carpet-bag 
in hand, and leap upon the pier the moment the steamer touched it, ride 
to the telegraph and put my despatch upon the wires for Boston. He 
entered heartily into the effort. I knew that the purser would not be 

482 



OCCUPATION OF CHARLESTON. 



483 



able to deliver the despatches for the New York papers until his duties 
incident to the docking of the steamer were done. The Fulton reached 
her dock at eight-thirty o'clock in the morning. A half hour later the 



L S 

w ■* 
w . 

W mm 


i 




W . '-^^m 


i 

f A 




m * 


■ ^mw ' 







MAJOR- (iEXERAL QUINCY A. GILLMORE. 

people of Boston were wild with the news. It was telegraphed to New 
York, Washington, and all over the country before any other account 
appeared. It was read in Congress, and by President Lincoln. It was 
regarded as one of the successful journalistic efforts of the war. 

I accepted General Gillmore's courteous invitation to accompany him 
to JSumter and the city. 



484 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Through the night the hoats of the fleet were fishing up the torpedoes 
from the harbour. The sun was not yet above the horizon when the 
steamer Coit of light draft, with General Gillmore and staff, glided up 
the harbour. A band on the steamer, from Concord, New Hampshire, 
the pet band of Gillmore's force, played " Yankee Doodle," " Hail 
Columbia," and the " Star Spangled Banner," as we glided past Sumter, 
and moved on to the city, above which a great cloud of smoke hung 
like a funeral pall. A few rowboats were rocking gently on the waves, 
but not a vessel was to be seen in the harbour, which, before the war, 
was crowded with vessels from New York, Boston, and Liverpool. 

Before the sailors had time to moor the steamer to the pier, I leaped 
over its sides. No citizen was to be seen. The silence was as profound 
as that of Judmar in the desert. I walked up the grass-grown streets, 
beholding a pavement strewn with glass, shattered from windows by 
exploding shells fired from Morris Island. 

When near the upper end of the pier we encountered an old man 
bending beneath the weight of seventy years, — such years as slavery 
alone can pile upon the soul. He bowed very low. 

"Are you not afraid of us Yankees?" 

" No, massa, God bless you. I have prayed many a night for you 
to come and now you are here. Bless the Lord ! Bless the Lord ! " 

He kneeled, clasped my hand, and with streaming eyes poured out 
his thanks to God. 

I asked him to pilot me to the building in which slaves were sold. I 
found it a structure of one story, with the word " Mart " in gilded 
letters upon the facade. Upon a post before the building was a single 
gilded star. Asking the old man to allow me to climb upon his 
shoulders, I wrenched the star from the post and the gilded letters from 
the side of the building, securing them as mementoes. Entering the 
building, I found it a large hall, with an elevated bench on three sides, 
raised about four feet from the floor, upon which the slaves stood when 
exposed for sale. A grated door on one side led to the iron -grated 
cells of the jail, where they were incarcerated before the auction. In 
the little room used by the auctioneer as an office, I found a book of 
letters, his correspondence with parties who had slaves for sale, with 
descriptions of their virtues ; also an advertisement of an administrator's 
sale, the settlement of an estate. As the War of the Rebellion was a 
great event, not only in the history of our country, but in the progress 
of civilisation, I transcribe this relic of the institution, for the 



I 



OCCUPATION OF CHARLESTON. 



487 



perpetuation of which the Southern States seceded from the Union 
and established a Confederacy. 



ADMINISTRATOR'S SALE, BY ORDER OF THE ORDINARY. 



A PRIME AND ORDERLY GANG OF 



68 Long Cotton Field Negroes, 

, Belonging to the Estate of the late Christopher J. Whaley. 



WILBUR & SON 

Will sell at PUBLIC AUCTION in Charleston, 

At the Mart in Chalmers Street, 

ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2d, 1860, 

COMMENCING AT ELEVEN O'CLOCK, 

THE FOLLOWING GANG OF LONG COTTON NEGROES, 

Who are said to be remarkably prime, and will be sold as per Catalogue. 



125,) 
£1,220,) 



Jimmy, 

Flora, 

flames, 

Charles, 

August, 

Mathias, 

Sandy, 

John, 

Tom, 

Jack, 

James, 

Leah, 

Flora, 

Andrew, 

Bin ah, 

Phillis, 

Mary, 

Lymus, 

Abram, 

Binah, 

Andrew, 

Hagar, 

Dayman, 

Cuffy, 

Hagar, | 

Margaret, 

Lucy, 

John, 

Ellick, ($1,160,) 

Libby, 



driver, 
seamstress, 



$2 75,) 



£1,320,) 



cripple, 



GES. 

30 

24 

5 

1 

52 

18 

16 

13 

70 

38 

6 

5 

2 

42 

40 

20 

15 

10 

2 

mos. 
29 
25 
4 
21 
20 
85 
60 
22 
18 
19 



($720,) 
($560,) 



NAMES. 

Carter, 

Taffy, 

Rachel, 

Jannett. 

Phebe, 

Judy, 

Major, 

Lavinia, 

Billy, ($550), 

Tamor, 

Jimmy, 

Kate, 

Susan, 

Thomas, 

Kate, 

Edward, 

Amey, 

Teneh, 

Josephine, 

Sam, 

Isaac, 

William, 

Amey, 



($380,) 



coachman, 
washer. 



Louisa, 

Joe, 

Sam, 

Andrew, 

Daniel, 

Lymus, 

Lucy, 



5750,) 



ruptured, 
dropsical, 



nurse, 



IES. 

36 

13 

8 

18 

40 

8 

40 

30 

10 

6 

52 

46 

25 

6 

1 

49 

22 

30 

9 

1 

5 

1 

27 

8 

3 

65 

61 

70 

30 

58 



TERMS. 



One-third Cash ; balance in one and two years, secured by bond, and mortgage of the negroes, 
with approved personal security. Purchasers to pay us for the papers. 



488 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Through the day I roamed the city, beholding ruin everywhere. 

The siege of Charleston was commenced on the 21st of August, 
1863, by the opening of the " Swamp- Angel " battery. On the 7th of 
September Fort Wagner was taken, and other guns were trained upon 
the city, compelling the evacuation of the lower half. For fourteen 
months it had been continued ; not a furious bombardment, but a slow, 
steady fire from day to day. About thirteen thousand shells had been 
thrown into the town, — nearly a thousand a month. 

They were fired at a great elevation, and were plunging shots, — 
striking houses on the roof and passing down from attic to basement, 
exploding in the chambers, cellars, or in the walls. The effect was a 
complete riddling of the houses. Brick walls were blown into millions 
of fragments, roofs were torn to pieces ; rafters, beams, braces, scant- 
lings, were splintered into jack-straws. Churches, hotels, stores, 
dwellings, public buildings, and stables, all were shattered. There were 
great holes in the ground, where cart-loads of earth had been excavated 
in a twinkling. 

In 1860 the population of the city was 48,509, — 26,969 whites, 
17,655 slaves, and 3,885 free coloured. The first flight from the city 
was in December, 1861, when Port Royal fell into the hands of Dupont ; 
but when it was found that the opportunity afforded at that time for an 
advance inland was not improved, most of those who had moved away 
returned. The attack of Dupont upon Sumter sent some flying again ; 
but not till the messengers of the " Swamp Angel " dropped among 
them did the inhabitants think seriously of leaving. Some went to 
Augusta, others to Columbia, others to Cheraw. Many wealthy men 
bought homes in the country. The upper part of the city was crowded. 
Men of fortune, who had lived in princely style, were compelled to put 
up with one room. Desolation had been coming on apace. The city 
grew old rapidly, and had become the completest ruin on the continent. 
There were from ten to fifteen thousand people still remaining in it, two- 
thirds of whom were coloured. 

When Sherman flanked Orangeburg, Hardee, who commanded the 
rebels in Charleston, saw that he must evacuate the place. There was 
no alternative ; he must give up Sumter, Moultrie, and the proud old city 
to the Yankees. It was bitter as death. A few of the heavy guns 
were sent off to North Carolina, all the trains which could be run on the 
railroad were loaded with ammunition and commissary supplies, the guns 
in the forts were spiked, and the troops withdrawn. 



OCCUPATION OF CHARLESTON. 489 

The inhabitants had been assured that the place should be defended to 
the last ; and in the Courier office we found the following sentence in 
type, which had been set up not twenty-four hours before the evacuation : 
" There are no indications that our authorities have the first intention of 
abandoning Charleston, as I have ascertained from careful inquiry ! " 
Duplicity to the end. 

The Rebellion was inaugurated through deception, and had been 
sustained by an utter disregard of truth. 

The 17th and 18th were terrible days. Carts, carriages, wagons, 
horses, mules, all were brought into use. The railroad trains were 
crowded. Men, women, and children fled, terror-stricken, broken- 
hearted, humbled in spirit, from their homes. 

General Hardee remained in the city till Friday night, the 17th in- 
stant, when he retired with the army, leaving a detachment of cavalry to 
destroy what he could not remove. Every building and shed in which 
cotton had been stored was fired on Saturday morning. The ironclads 
Palmetto State, Chicora, and Charleston were also given to the flames. 
They lay at the wharves, and had each large quantities of powder and 
shell on board. General Hardee knew that the explosions of the maga- 
zines would send a storm of fire upon the city. He knew it would 
endanger the lives of thousands. 

The torch was applied early on the morning of the 18th. The citi- 
zens sprang to the fire-engines and succeeded in extinguishing the flames 
in several places ; but in other parts of the city the fire had its own 
way, burning till there was nothing more to devour. On the wharf of 
the Savannah Railroad depot were several hundred bales of cotton and 
several thousand bushels of rice. On Lucas Street, in a shed, were 
twelve hundred bales of cotton. There were numerous other sheds all 
filled. Near by was the Lucas mill, containing thirty thousand bushels 
of rice, and Walker's warehouse, with a large amount of commissary 
stores, all of which were licked up by the fire so remorselessly kindled. 

At the Northeastern Railroad depot there was an immense amount of 
cotton, which was fired. The depot was full of commissary supplies and 
ammunition, powder in kegs, shells, and cartridges. The people rushed 
in to obtain the supplies. Several hundred men, women, and children 
were in the building when the flames reached the ammunition and the 
fearful explosion took place, lifting up the roof and bursting out the 
walls, and scattering bricks, timbers, tiles, beams, through the air ; shells 
crashed through the panic-stricken crowd, followed by the shrieks and 



490 THE BOYS OF '61. 

groans of the mangled victims lying helpless in the flames, burning to 
cinders in the all-devouring element. Nor was this all. At the wharves 
were the ironclads, burning, torn, rent, scattered over the water and 
land, — their shells and solid shot, iron braces, red-hot iron plates, fall- 
ing in an infernal shower, firing the wharves, the buildings, and all that 
could burn. 

There was more than this. Two magnificent Blakely guns, one at 
the battery, the other near the gas-works on Cooper River, were loaded 
to the muzzle and trains laid to burst them. The concussion shattered 
all the houses in the immediate vicinity. 

The buildings near the Northeastern depot were swept away. All the 
houses embraced in the area of four squares disappeared. The new 
bridge leading to James Island was destroyed, the fire eating its way 
slowly from pier to pier through the day. The citizens did their utmost 
to stay the flames, but from sunrise to sunset on Saturday, all through 
Saturday night, Sunday, and Monday, the fire burned. How fearful this 
retribution for crime ! Abandoned by those who had cajoled and 
deceived them, who had brought about their calamity, while swearing to 
defend them to the last, humbled, reduced from affluence to poverty, the 
people of Charleston were compelled to endure the indescribable agony 
of those days. 

Colonel Bennett, commanding the Twenty - first United States 
Coloured Troops of Morris Island, seeing signs of evacuation on Saturday 
morning, the 18th, hastened up the harbour in boats with his regiment, 
landing at the South Atlantic wharf. 

" In the name of the United States Government," was his note to the 
mayor, " I demand the surrender of the city of which you are the 
executive officer. Until further orders, all citizens will remain in their 
houses." 

The mayor, meanwhile, had despatched a deputation to Morris Island 
with formal intelligence of the evacuation. 

" My command," wrote Colonel Bennett, " will render every possible 
assistance to your well-disposed citizens in extinguishing the flames." 

The Twenty-first United States Coloured Troops was made up of the 
old Third and Fourth South Carolina regiments, and many of them were 
formerly slaves in the city of Charleston. They were enlisted at a time 
when public sentiment was against them, in the winter of 1862-63. I 
was at Port Royal then, and they were employed in the quartermaster's 
department. They were sneered at and abused by officers and men 



OCCUPATION OF CHARLESTON. 491 

belonging to white regiments ; but Colonel Bennett continued steadfast 
in his determination, obtained arms after a long struggle, in which he 
was seconded by Colonel Littlefield, Inspector-General of coloured troops 
in the department. Colonel Bennett had organised four companies of 
the Third and Colonel Littlefield four companies of the Fourth. The 
two commands were united and numbered as the Twenty-first United 
States Coloured Troops. They went to Morris Island in 1868, took 
part in two or three engagements, and proved themselves good soldiers 
of the Union. It was their high privilege to be first in the city. The 
stone which the builders rejected once in the history of the world 
became the head -stone of the corner; and in like manner the poor, 
despised, rejected African race, which had no rights, against whom the 
city of Charleston plotted iniquity and inaugurated treason, marched 
into the city to save it from destruction ! Following the Twenty-first 
was a detachment of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts. 

I recalled the day when it stood marshalled beneath the elms on 
Boston Common, to receive its flag from the hands of the governor of 
Massachusetts, John A. Andrew. " I know not," said he, as he placed 
the colours in the hands of Colonel Robert G. Shaw, " when in all 
human history there has been vouchsafed to any one thousand men in 
arms, a work so noble, so full of hope and promise, as is given to you." 

They were most of them ex-slaves. Some of them had been sold in 
the Charleston slave mart. They had no country. The Supreme Court 
of the United States had made its solemn declaration that they had no 
civil rights. Yet they had enlisted to fight for the preservation of the 
Union. I recall the opprobrious remarks of some of Boston's cultured 
citizens. " They will run at the first fire." But at Wagner they had 
proved their valour. When they followed their intrepid leader down 
into the moat, waded waist-deep through the water, climbed the glacis 
and poured their volleys into the faces of the Confederates, they 
demonstrated their right to citizenship, and refuted all the calumnies 
which, through the centuries, had been heaped upon their race. In the 
morning after the assault, when General Gillmore, with a white flag, 
asked for the body of Colonel Shaw, the Confederate commander gave 
the reply : 

" Let him lie buried beneath his niggers ! " Stung by the insult to 
the memory of their lamented commander, and by the sneer at them- 
selves, will they not now wreak their vengeance on the ill-fated city ? It 
is their hour for retaliation. But they harbour in their hearts no malice 



492 THE BOYS OF '61. 

or revenge. Conscious of their manhood, they are glad of another 
opportunity of showing it. 

The soldiers of the Fifty -fourth have proved their prowess on the 
field of battle ; they have met the chivalry of South Carolina face to 
face, and shown their ecmality in courage and heroism, and on this ever 
memorable day they make manifest to the world their superiority in 
honour and humanity. 

Let the painter picture it. Let the poet rehearse it. With the old 
flag above them, keeping step to freedom's drum - beat, up the grass- 
grown streets, past the slave marts where their families and themselves 
have been sold in the public shambles, laying aside their arms, working 
the fire-engines to extinguish the flames, and, in the spirit of the 
Redeemer of men, saving that which was lost. 

" It was the intention of some of our officers to destroy the city," said 
one of the citizens ; " they not only set it on fire, but they double- 
shotted the guns of the ironclads, and turned them upon the town, but, 
fortunately, no one was injured when they exploded." 

The lower half of the city was called Gillmore's town by the inhabi- 
tants. 

We visited the office of the Mercury, in Broad Street. A messenger 
sent from Morris Island had preceded us, entering the roof, exploding 
within the chimney, dumping several cart-loads of brickbats and soot 
into the editorial room, breaking the windows and splintering the doors. 
It was the room in which Secession had its incubation. The leading 
spirits sat there in their arm-chairs and enthroned King Cotton. They 
demanded homage to his majesty from all nations. The first shell sent 
the Mercury up-town to a safer locality, but when Sherman began his 
inarch into the interior, the Mercury fled into the country to Cheraw, 
right into his line of advance ! 

The Courier office in Bay Street had not escaped damage A shell went 
down through the floors, ripping up the boards, jarring the plaster from 
the walls, and exploded in the second story, rattling all the tiles from 
the roof, bursting out the windows, smashing the composing-stone, open- 
ins the whole building to the winds. Another shell had dashed the 
sidewalk to pieces and blown a passage into the cellar, wide enough to 
admit a six-horse wagon. Near the Courier office were the Union Bank, 
Farmers' and Exchange Bank, and Charleston Bank, costly buildings, 
fitted up with marble mantels, floors of terra-cotta tiles, counters elab- 
orate in carved work, and with gorgeous frescoing on the walls. There, 



OCCUPATION OF CHARLESTON. 493 

five years before, the merchants of the city, the planters of the country, 
the slave-traders, assembled on exchange, talked treason, and indulged 
in extravagant day-dreams of the future glory of Charleston. 

The rooms were silent now, the oaken doors splintered, the frescoing 
washed from the walls by the rains which dripped from the shattered 
roof; the desks were kindling-wood, the highly -wrought cornice work 
had dropped to the ground, the tiles were ploughed up, the marble 
mantels shivered, the beautiful plate glass of the windows was in frag- 
ments upon the floor. The banks helped on the rebellion, contributed 
their funds to inaugurate it, and invested largely in the State securities 
to place the State on a war footing. The three banks named held, on 
January 6, 1862, six hundred and ten thousand dollars' worth of the 
seven per cent. State stock, issued under the act of December, 1861. 

The entire amount of the State loan of one million eight hundred 
thousand dollars issued under the act was taken by the banks of the 
State. Every bank, with the exception of the Bank of Camden and the 
Commercial Bank of Columbia, subscribed to the stock. The seven 
Charleston banks at this early stage of the war had loaned the State, 
permanently, eleven hundred and forty-two thousand dollars. 

At this period of the war the State had twenty-seven thousand three 
hundred and sixty-two troops in the field, out of a white population of 
two hundred and ninety -one thousand, by the census of 1860, nearly 
one-half of the voting population, so fiercely burned the fires of Secession. 
But the flames had reached their whitest heat. Even at that time, the 
people had grown weary of the war, and refused to enlist. 

" The activity and energy had been already abstracted," writes the 
chief of the Military Department of the State ; " they had stricken at 
the sovereignty of the State ; ignorance, indolence, selfishness, disaffec- 
tion, and to some extent disappointed ambition, were combined and 
made unwittingly to aid and abet the enemy, and to become the coadju- 
tors of Lincoln and all the hosts of abolition myrmidons." 

Passing from the banks to the hotels, we found a like scene of 
destruction. The doors of the Mills House were open. The windows 
had lost their glazing and were boarded up. Sixteen shots had struck 
the building. The rooms where Secession had been rampant in the 
beginning, where bottles of wine had been drunk over the fall of Sumter, 
echoed only to our footsteps. The Charleston Hotel, where Governor 
Pickens had uttered his proud, exultant, defiant words ( 1861 ) was 
pierced in many places. Dining-halls, parlours, and chambers had been 



494 THE BOYS OF '61. 

visited by messengers from Morris Island. I gathered strawberry 
flowers and dandelions from the grass-green pavement in front of the 
hotel, trodden by the drunken multitude on that night when the flag of 
the Union was humbled in the dust. 

No wild, tumultuous shoutings now, but silence deep, painful, sorrow- 
ful. Our own voices only echoed along the corridors and balconies 
where surged the lunatics of that hour. We passed at will along the 
streets, wanderers in a desolate city. Along the Battery, a beautiful 
promenade of the city, shaded by magnolias, and fragrant with the 
bloom of roses and syringas, overlooking the harbour, stood the residences 
of the " chivalric " men of South Carolina. From their balconies and 
windows the occupants had watched the first bombardment of Sumter. 
They had seen with joyful eyes the flames lick up the barracks, and the 
lowering of the flag of the Union. But now their palatial homes were 
wrecks, and they were fugitives. Doorless and windowless the houses. 
The elaborate centrepieces of stucco - work in the drawing - rooms 
crumbled ; the bedrooms filled with bricks, the white marble steps and 
mahogany balusters shattered ; owls and bats might build their nests in 
the coming springtime, undisturbed, in the deserted mansions ; the es- 
planade of the Battery, the pleasure-ground of the Charlestonians, their 
delight and pride, was now merely a huge embankment of earth, — a 
magazine of shot and shell. 

The churches — where slavery had been preached as a missionary 
institution, where Secession had been prayed for, where Te Deums had 
been sung over the fall of Sumter, and hosannas shouted for the great 
victory of Manassas — were, like the houses, wrecks. The pavements 
were strewn with the glass shattered from the windows of old St. 
Michael's, the pride and reverence of Charleston ; and St. Philip's, where 
worshipped the rich men. The yard was overrun with weeds and briers. 
Bombs had torn through the church. Pigeons had free access. Buz- 
zards might roost there undisturbed. 

In 1861 the heart of the city was burned out by a great fire, which 
swept from the Cooper River to the Ashley. How it ignited no one has 
told. The coloured people are fully imbued with the belief that it was 
sent of the Lord. No attempt had been made to rebuild the waste. All 
the energy of the people had been given to prosecuting the war. There 
had been no sound of trowel, hammer, or saw, except upon the ironclads. 

The blackened area was overgrown with fire-weeds. Lean and hun- 
gry curs barked at us from the tenantless houses. Cats which once 



OCCUPATION OF CHARLESTON. 495 

purred by pleasant firesides ran from their old haunts at our approach. 
The rats had deserted the wharves and moved up-town with the people. 
The buzzards, which once picked up the garbage of the markets, had 
disappeared. A solitary rook cawed to us, perched on the vane of the 
court-house steeple. Spiders were spinning their webs in the counting- 
houses. 

It was an indescribable scene of desolation, — of roofless houses, can- 
non-battered walls, crumbling ruins, upheaved pavement, and grass- 
grown streets ; silent to all sounds of business, voiceless only to a few 
haggard men and women wandering amid the ruins, reflecting upon a 
jubilant past, a disappointed present, and a hopeless future ! 

Charleston was one of the great slave marts of the South. She was 
the boldest advocate for the reopening of the slave-trade. Her states- 
men legislated for it ; her ministers of the Gospel upheld it as the best 
means for Christianizing Africa and for the ultimate benefit of the 
whole human race. Being thus sustained, the slave-traders set up their 
auction-block in no out-of-the-way place. A score of men opened offices 
and dealt in the bodies and souls of men. Among them were T. Ryan 
& Son, M. M. McBride, J. E. Bowers, J. B. Oaks, J. B. Baker, Wilbur & 
Son, on State and Chalmers Streets. Twenty paces distant from Baker's 
was a building bearing the sign, " Theological Library, Protestant Epis- 
copal Church." Standing by Baker's door, and looking up Chalmers 
Street to King Street, I read another sign, " Sunday-school Depository." 
Also, " Hibernian Hall," the building in which the ordinance of Seces- 
sion was signed. In another building on the opposite corner was the 
Registry of Deeds. Near by was the guard-house with its grated 
windows, its iron bars being an appropriate design of double-edged 
swords and spears. Thousands of slaves had been incarcerated there 
for no crime whatever, except for being out after nine o'clock, or for 
meeting in some secret chamber to tell God their wrongs, with no white 
man present. They disobeyed the law by not listening to the bell of 
old St. Michael's, which at half -past eight in the evening, in its high 
and venerable tower, opened its trembling lips and shouted : " Get you 
home ! Get you home ! " Always that ; always of command ; always 
of arrogance, superiority, and caste ; never of love, good-will, and 
fellowship. On Sunday morning it said : " Come and sit in your 
old-fashioned, velvet-cushioned pews, you rich ones ! Go up-stairs, you 
niggers ! " 

The guard -house doors were wide open. The jailer had lost his 



496 THE BOYS OF '61. 

occupation. The last slave had been immured within its walls, and St. 
Michael's curfew was to be sweetest music thenceforth and forever. It 
shall ring the glad chimes of freedom, — freedom to come, to go, or to 
tarry by the way ; freedom from sad partings of wife and husband, 
father and son, mother and child. 

The brokers in flesh and blood took good care to be well buttressed. 
They set up their markets in a reputable quarter, with St. Michael's and 
the guard-house, the Registry of Deeds and the Sunday-school Deposi- 
tory, the court-house and the Theological Library around them to make 
their calling respectable. 

But the bursting bombs had splintered the pews of St. Michael's, 
demolished the pulpit, and made a record of its doings in the Registry 
building, opened the entire front of the Sunday-school Depository to the 
light of heaven. There was also a mass of evidence in the court-room 
— several cart-loads of brick and plaster, introduced by General Gill- 
more — against the right of the State to secede. 

I entered the Theological Library building through a window from 
which General Gillmore had removed the sash by a solid shot. A pile 
of old rubbish lay upon the floor, — sermons, tracts, magazines, books, 
papers, musty and mouldy, turning into pulp beneath the rain-drops 
which came down through the shattered roof. 

In 1860, in the month of December, Lieutenant-Colonel Woodford, of 
the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh New York Volunteers, was in 
Charleston on business. He was waited on one day by a company of 
citizens and informed that he had better leave the city, inasmuch as he 
was a Northerner, and, besides, was suspected of being an Abolitionist. 
He was put on board a steamer, and compelled to go North. He was 
now Provost-Marshal of the Department. On the morning of the 20th 
he visited the office of the Charleston Courier. The editors had fled the 
city, but the business man of the establishment remained to protect it. 
Colonel Woodford was received very graciously. The following conver- 
sation passed between them: 

Colonel W. " Whom have I the pleasure of addressing ?" 

Business man. " Mr. L , sir." 

Col. W. " Will you do me the favour to loan me a piece of paper ? " 

Mr. L. " Certainly, certainly, sir." 

Col. W. " Shall I also trouble you for a pen and ink ? " 

Mr. L. " With pleasure, sir." 

The ink was muddy and the pen poor, but the business man, with 



OCCUPATION OF CHARLESTON. 497 

great alacrity, obtained another bottle and a better pen. Colonel 
Woodford commenced writing again : 

" Office Provost-Marshal, 
Charleston, February 20, 1865 
" Special Order, No. 1. 

" The Charleston Courier establishment is hereby taken possession of 
by the United States." 

Mr. L. had been overlooking the writing, forgetful of courtesy in his 
curiosity. He could hold in no longer. 

" Colonel, surely you don't mean to confiscate my property ! WJiy, 
I opposed nullification in 1830. 

" That may be, sir, but you have done what you could to oppose the 
United States since 1860. If you will show me by your files that you 
have uttered one loyal word since January 1, 1865, I will take* your 
case into consideration." 

He could not, and the Courier passed into other hands. 

The rich men of the city — those who had begun and sustained the 
Rebellion — fled when they saw that the place was to fall into the hands 
of the Yankees. But how bitter the humiliation ! On the Sunday pre- 
ceding, Rev. Dr. Porter, of the Church of the Holy Communion, preached 
upon the duty of fighting the Yankees to the last. " Fight ! fight, my 
friends, till the streets run blood ! Perish in the last ditch rather than 
permit the enemy to obtain possession of your homes ! " 

But on Monday morning Dr. Porter was hastening to Cheraw, to 
avoid being caught in Sherman's trap. The people of Charleston ex- 
pected that Sherman would swing round upon Branchville, and come 
into the city, and therefore hastened to Columbia, Cheraw, and other 
northern towns of the interior, where not a few of them became ac- 
quainted with the " Bummers." 

Rev. Dr. Porter owned a fine residence, which he turned over to an 
English lady. As there were no hotel accommodations, my friend and I 
were obliged to find private lodgings, and were directed to the house of 

the Reverend Doctor. We were courteously received by Mrs. , a 

lady in middle life, still wearing the bloom of old England on her 
cheeks, although several years a resident of the sunny South. Rising 
early in the morning, for a stroll through the city before breakfast, I 
found the cook and chambermaid breaking out in boisterous laughter. 
The cook danced, clapped her hands, sat down in a chair, and reeled 
backward and forward in unrestrained ecstasy. 



498 THE BOYS OF '61. 

" What pleases you, aunty ? " I asked. 

" massa ! I 's tickled to tink dat massa Dr. Porter, who said dat 
no Yankee eber would set his foot in dis yar city, had to cut for his life, 
and dat a Yankee slept in his bed last night ! Bless de Lord for dat ! " 

The white women manifested their hatred to the bitter end. 

" I '11 set fire to my house before the Yankees shall have possession of 
the city ! " was the exclamation of one excited lady, when it was whis- 
pered that the place was to be evacuated ; but her rebel friends saved 
her the trouble by applying the torch themselves. 

The coloured people looked upon the Yankees as their deliverers from 
bondage. They spoke of their coining as the advent of the Messiah. 
Passing along King Street, near the citadel, we met an old negress with 
a basket on her arm, a broad-brimmed straw hat on her head, wearing a 
brown dress and roundabout. She saw that we were Yankees, and 
made a profound courtesy. 

" How do you do, aunty ? " 

" Oh, bless de Lord, I 's very well, tank you," grasping my hand, and 
dancing for joy. " I am sixty-nine years old, but I feel as if I wa' n't 
but sixteen." She broke into a chant, — 

" Ye 's long been a-comin, 

Ye 's long been a-comin, 

Ye 's long been a-comin, 

For to take de land. 

" And now ye 's a-comin, 
And now ye 's a-comin, 
And now ye 's a-comin, 
For to rule de land." 

And then, clapping her hands, said, " Bless de Lord ! Bless de dear 
Jesus ! " 

" Then you are glad the Yankees are here ? " 

" chile ! I can't bress de Lord enough ; but I does n't call you 
Yankees." 

" What do you call us ? " 

" I call you Jesus's aids, and I call you head man de Messiah." She 
burst out into a rhapsody of hallelujah and thanksgivings. " I can't 
bress de Lord enough, and bress you, chile ; I can't love you enough 
for comin'." 



OCCUPATION OF CHARLESTON. 499 

" Were you not afraid, aunty, when the shells fell into the town ? " 

She straightened up, raised her eyes, and with a look of triumphant 
joy, exclaimed : 

" When Mr. Gillmore fired de big gun and I hear de shell a-rushin 
ober my head, I say, Come, dear Jesus, and I feel nearer to heaben dan 
I eber feel before ! " 

My laundress at Port Royal was Rosa, a young coloured woman, who 
escaped from Charleston in 1862, with her husband and four other 
persons, in a small boat. On that occasion Rosa dressed herself in 
men's clothes, and the whole party early one morning rowed past 
Sumter, and made for the gunboats. 

" If you go to Charleston I wish you would see if my mother is there," 
said Rosa. " Governor Aiken's head man knows where she lives." 

We went up King Street to Governor Aiken's. We found his " head 
man " in the yard, — a courteous black, who, as soon as he learned that 
we were Yankees, and had a message from Rosa to her mother, dropped 
all work and started with us, eager to do anything for a Yankee. A 
walk to John Street, an entrance through a yard to the rear of a dwel- 
ling-house, brought us to the mother, in a small room, cluttered with 
pots, kettles, tables, and chairs. She was sitting on a stool before the 
fire, cooking her scanty breakfast of corn-cake. She had a little rice 
meal in a bag given her by a rebel officer. She was past sixty years of 
age, — a large, strong woman, with a wide, high forehead and intellectual 
features. She was clothed in a skirt of dingy negro cloth, a sack of old 
red carpeting, and poor, thin canvas shoes of her own make. Such an 
introduction ! 

" Here comes de great Messiah, wid news of Rosa ! " said my in- 
troducer, with an indescribable dramatic flourish. 

The mother sprang from the stool with a cry of joy. " From Rosa ? 
From Rosa ? Oh, thank the Lord ! " She took hold of my hands, looked 
at me with intense earnestness and joy, and yet with a shade of doubt, 
as if it could not be true. 

"From Rosa?" 

"Yes, aunty." 

She kneeled upon the floor and looked up to heaven. The tears 
streamed from her eyes. She recounted in prayer all her long years of 
slavery, of suffering, of unrequited toil, and achings of the heart. " You 
have heard me, dear Jesus ! blessed Lamb ! " 

It was a conversation between herself and the Saviour. She told Him 



500 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



the story of her life, of all its sorrows, of His goodness, kindness, and 
love, the tears rolling down her cheeks the while and falling in great 
drops upon the floor. She wanted us to stay and partake of her humble 




KOSA. 



fare, pressed my hands again and again," and when we told her we must 
<r she asked for God's best blessing and for Jesus' love to follow us. 
It 'was a prayer from the heart. We had carried to her the news that 
she was free, and that her Rosa was still alive. The long looked-for 



OCCUPATION OF CHARLESTON. 501 

jubilee morning had dawned, and we were to her God's messengers, 
bringing the glad tidings. 

The 22d of February, Washington's birthday, was celebrated in 
Charleston as never before. In the afternoon a small party of gentlemen 
from the North sat down to a dinner. Among them were Colonel 
Webster, chief of General Sherman's staff, Colonel Markland of the 
Post-office Department, several officers of the army and navy, and four 
journalists, all guests of a patriotic gentlemen from Philadelphia, Mr. 
Getty. 

Our table was spread in the house of a caterer who formerly had pro- 
vided sumptuous dinners for the Charlestonians. He was a mulatto, 
and well understood his art ; for, notwithstanding the scarcity of provi- 
sions in the city, he was able to provide an excellent entertainment, set 
off with canned fruits, which had been put up in England, and had run 
the gauntlet of the blockade. 

Sentiments were offered and speeches made, which in other days 
would have been called incendiary. Five years before if they had been 
uttered there the speakers would have made the acquaintance of Judge 
Lynch, and been treated to a gratuitous coat of tar and feathers, or 
received some such chivalric attention, if they had not dangled from a 
lamp-post or the nearest tree. Lloyd's Concert Band, coloured mu- 
sicians, were in attendance, and " Hail Columbia," the " Star-Spangled 
Banner," and " Yankee Doodle," — songs which had not been heard for 
years in that city, — were sung with enthusiasm. To stand there with 
open doors and windows, and speak freely, without fear of mob violence, 
was worth all the precious boon had cost, to feel that our words, our 
actions, our thoughts even, were not subject to the misinterpretation of 
irresponsible inquisitors, that we were not under espionage, but in free 
America, answerable to God alone for our thoughts even, and to no man 
for our actions, so long as they did not infringe the rights of others. 

While dining we heard the sound of drums and a chorus qf voices. 
Looking down the broad avenue we saw a column of troops advancing 
with steady step and even ranks. It was nearly sunset, and their 
bayonets were gleaming in the level rays. It was General Potter's 
brigade, led by the Fifty-fifth Massachusetts, — a regiment recruited from 
the ranks of slavery. Sharp and shrill the notes of the fife, stirring 
the drum-beat, deep and resonant the thousand voices singing their most 
soul-thrilling war-song, — 

"John Brown's body lies a mouldering in the grave." 



502 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Mingling with the chorus were cheers for Governor Andrew and 
Abraham Lincoln 

They raised their caps, hung them upon their bayonets. Proud their 
bearing. They came as conquerors. Some of them had walked those 
streets before as slaves. Now they were freemen, — soldiers of the 
Union, defenders of its flag. 

Around them gathered a dusky crowd of men, women, and children, 
dancing, shouting, mad with very joy. Mothers held up their little ones 
to see the men in blue, to catch a sight of the starry flag, with its crim- 
son folds and tassels of gold. 

" O dark, sad millions, patiently and dumb, 
Waiting for God, your hour at last has come, 

And freedom's song 
Breaks the long silence of your night of wrong." 

Up the avenue, past the citadel, with unbroken ranks, they marched, 
offering no insult, uttering no epithet, manifesting no revenge, for all the 
wrongs of centuries heaped upon them by a people now humbled and at 
their mercy. 

While walking down the street an hour later 1 inquired my way of a 
white woman. She was going in the same direction, and kindly volun- 
teered to direct me. 

" How do the Yankees behave ? " I asked. 

" Oh, they behave well enough, but the niggers are dreadful sassy." 

" They have not insulted you, I hope." 

" Oh, no, they have n't insulted me, but they have other folks. They 
don't turn out when we meet them ; they smoke cigars and go right up 
to a gentleman and ask him for a light ! " 

The deepest humiliation to the Charlestonians was the presence of 
negro soldiers. They were the provost guards of the city, with their 
headquarters in the citadel. Whoever desired protection papers or 
passes, whoever had business with the marshal or the general command- 
ing the city, rich or poor, high-born or low-born, white or black, man or 
woman, must meet a coloured sentinel face to face, and obtain from a 
coloured sergeant permission to enter the gate. They were first in the 
city, and it was their .privilege to guard it, their duty to maintain law 
and order. 

A Confederate officer who had given his parole, but who was indis- 
creet enough to curse the Yankees, was quietly marched off to the 



OCCUPATION OF CHARLESTON. 503 

guard-house by these coloured soldiers. It was galling to his pride, and 
he walked with downcast eyes and subdued demeanour. 

The gorgeous spectacle of the numerous war-vessels in the harbour, 
flaming with bunting from yardarm and topmast, and thundering forth a 
national salute in double honour of the day and the victory, deeply 
impressed the minds of the coloured population with the invincibility of 
the Yankees. 

" Oh, gosh a mighty ! It is no use for de rebs to think of standing 
out against de Yankees any longer. I '11 go home and bring Dinah 
down to see de sight ! " cried an old freedman as he beheld the fleet. 
Bright colours are the delight of the African race, and a grand display 
of any kind has a wonderful effect on their imagination. 

Neither the white nor the coloured people comprehended the change 
which had taken place in their fortunes. The whites forgot that they 
were no longer slave-drivers. Passing down Rutledge Street one morn- 
ing, I saw a crowd around the door of a building. A friend who was 
there in advance of me said that he heard an outcry, looked in, and 
found a white man whipping a coloured woman. Her outcries brought 
a coloured sergeant of the provost guard and a squad of men, who 
quietly took the woman away, and told her to go where she pleased, and 
informed the man that that sort of thing was " played out." Two white 
women were passing at the time. " Oh, my God ! To think that we 
should ever come to this ! " was the exclamation of one. " Yes, madam, 
you have come to it, and will have to come to a good deal more," was 
the reply of my friend. 

There were a few Union men in the city, who through the long 
struggle had been true to the old flag. They were mostly Germans. 
Many Union officers escaping from prison had been kindly cared for by 
these faithful friends, who had been subjected to such close surveillance 
that secretiveness had become a marked trait of character. 

I saw a small flag waving from a window, and wishing to find out 
what sort of a Union man resided there, rang the bell. A man came 
to the door, of middle age, light hair, and an honest, German face. 

" I saw the Stars and Stripes thrown out from your window, and have 
called to shake hands with a Union man, for I am a Yankee." 

He grasped my proffered hand, and shook it till it ached. 

" Come in, sir. God bless you, sir." 

Then suddenly checking himself, he lowered his voice, looked into the 
adjoining rooms, peeped behind doors, to see if there were a listener near. 



504 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



" We have to be careful ; spies all about us," said he, not fully 
realising that the soldiers of the Union had possession of the city. 
He showed me a large flag. 

" Since the fall of Sumter," said he, " my wife and I have slept on 
it every night. We have had it sewed into a feather-bed." 

He gazed upon it as if it were the most blessed thing in the world. 




TAKEN TO THE FORT IN SMALL BOATS. 



He had aided several soldiers in escaping from prison ; and on one 
occasion had kept two officers secreted several weeks, till an opportunity 
offered to send them out to the blockading fleet. 

During the bombardment of the city, the newspapers had published 
their daily bulletins, — " So many shells fired. No damage." From 
the proud beginning to the humiliating breaking up of the rule of 
Secession, the people were cheated, deluded, and deceived by false 
promises and lying reports. It was sad to walk amid the ruins of what 
had been once so fair. It seemed a city of a past age and of an extinct 
generation. And it was. The Charleston of former days was dead 
as Palmyra. 






OCCUPATION OF CHAKLESTON. 505 

Embarking on the steamer with General Gillmore, we sailed down 
the harbour to visit Sumter. 

The steamer Deer, built on the Clyde, a few hours from Nassau, with 
an' assorted cargo, — a low, rakish, fast -running craft, with steam 
escaping from her pipes, — was lying under the guns of a monitor. 
She had worked her way in during the night. The crestfallen captain 
was chewing the cud of disappointment on the quarter-deck, looking 
gloomily seaward the while, and doubtless wishing himself in the 
harbour of Nassau. Two nights before the Syren had passed in. The 
wreck of a third blockade-runner was lying on the sands of Sullivan's 
Island, near Moultrie, which months before had been run ashore by the 
fleet. The tide was surging through the cabin windows. Barnacles 
had fastened upon the hull, and long tresses of green, dank seaweed 
hung trailing from the iron paddle wheels. It was a satisfaction to 
know that the time was at hand when Englishmen at Nassau would 
have to shut up shop. 

The steamer could not approach near the landing, and we were 
taken to the fort in small boats. We reached the interior through 
a low, narrow passage. 

The fort bore little resemblance to its former appearance, externally 
or internally. None of the original face of the wall was to be seen, 
except on the side towards Charleston and a portion of that facing 
Moultrie. From the harbour and from Wagner it appeared only a 
tumulus, — the debris of an old ruin. All the casemates, arches, pil- 
lars, and parapets were torn up and utterly demolished. The great guns 
which two years before kept the monitors at bay, which flamed and 
thundered awhile upon Wagner, were dismounted, broken, and partially 
buried beneath the mountain of brick, dust, concrete, sand, and mortar. 
After Dupont's attack, in April, 1863, a reinforcement of palmetto logs 
was made on the harbour side, and against half of the wall facing Moul- 
trie, and the lower casemates were filled with sand-bags ; but when Gen- 
eral Gillmore obtained possession of Wagner, his fire began to crumble 
the parapet. The rebels endeavoured to maintain its original height by 
gabions filled with sand, but this compelled a widening of the base inside 
by sand -bags, thousands of which were brought to the fort at night. 
Day after day, week after week, the pounding from Wagner was main- 
tained so effectually that it was impossible to keep a gun in position on 
the side of Sumter fronting it, and the only guns remaining mounted 
were five or six on the side towards Moultrie, in the middle tier of case- 



506 THE BOYS OF '61. 

mates. Five howitzers were kept on the walls to repel an attack by 
small boats, the garrison keeping under cover, or seeking shelter 
whenever the lookout cried, " A shot ! " 

Cheveaux-de-frise of pointed sticks protected the fort from a scaling 
party. At the base outside was a barrier of interlaced wire, supported 
by iron posts. There was also a submerged network of wire and chains, 
kept in place by floating buoys. 

I had the curiosity to make an inspection of the wall nearest Moul- 
trie, to see what had been the effect of the fire of the ironclads in Dupont's 
attack. With my glass at that time I could see that the wall was badly 
honeycombed ; a close inspection now proved that the fire was very dam- 
aging. There were seams in the masonry, and great gashes where the 
solid bolts crumbled the bricks to dust. It was evident that if the fire 
had been continued any considerable length of time the wall would 
have fallen. Its effect suggested the necessity of filling up the lower 
casemates. 

For four long years the cannon of Sumter had hurled defiance at the 
rights of man ; but the contest now was ended. Eternal principles had 
prevailed against every effort of rebel hate to crush them. The strong 
earthworks on Sullivan's and Johnson's Islands, the batteries in the har- 
bour, Castle Pinckney and Fort Ripley, and those in the city erected by 
slaves, were useless forever, except as monuments of folly and wicked- 
ness. As I stood there upon the ruins of Sumter, looking down into the 
crater, the past like a panorama was unrolled, exhibiting the mighty 
events which will forever make it memorable. The silent landing of 
Major Anderson at the postern gate, the midnight prayer and solemn 
consecration of the little band to defend the flag till the last, the long 
weeks of preparation by the rebels, the Star of the West turning her bow 
seaward, the 12th of April, the barracks on fire, the supplies exhausted, 
the hopelessness of success, the surrender, and all that had followed, 
were vivid memories of the moment. 

How inspiring to hear the music of the band, to behold the numerous 
vessels of the fleet decorated from bowsprit to yardarm and topmast 
with flags and streamers, to recall the heroic sacrifices of those who 
had fought through the weary years, to know that Sumter, Moultrie, 
the city, and the State were redeemed from the worst system of 
vassalage, that our country was still a nation, renewed and regenerated 
by its baptism of fire and blood, that truth and right were vindicated 
before the world ; and to look down the coming years, and know that 



OCCUPATION OF CHARLESTON. 



507 



freedom was secured to all beneath the folds of the flag that had with- 
stood the intrigues of cabals and the shock of battle, and that Christi- 
anity and civilisation, twin agents of human progress, had received 
an impetus that would make the republic the leader and teacher of 
all the nations. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE LAST CAMPAIGN". 

HASTENING northward, I joined the Army of the Potomac in sea- 
son to be an observer of Grant's last campaign. It was evident 
that the power of the Rebellion to resist was rapidly on the wane. In 
the West there were several small rebel forces, but no large organised 
body. Hood's defeat at Nashville had paralysed operations east of the 
Mississippi. Johnston was falling back before Sherman, without ability 
to check his advance. 

Grant had strengthened his own army. Schofield was at Wilmington, 
preparing to cooperate with Sherman. Sheridan was in the Valley, 
at Winchester, — his cavalry in excellent condition for a move. The 
cavalry arm of the service had been growing in importance. Grant had 
fostered it, and now held it in his hand, as Jove his thunderbolts. His 
letter to Sheridan, written on the 20th of February, shows how 
thoroughly he had prepared for the finishing work. 

" As soon as it is possible to travel," he writes, " 1 think you will have 
no difficulty about reaching Lynchburg with a cavalry force alone. 
From thence you could destroy the railroad and canal in every direction, 
so as to be of no further use to the Rebellion. Sufficient cavalry should 
be left behind to look after Mosby's gang. From Lynchburg, if informa- 
tion you might get there would justify it, you could strike south, heading 
the streams of Virginia to the westward of Danville, and push on and 
join Sherman. This additional raid, with one now about starting from 
East Tennessee, under Stoneman, numbering four or five thousand 
cavalry ; one from Eastport, Mississippi, numbering ten thousand cav- 
alry ; Canby from Mobile Bay, numbering thirty-eight thousand mixed 
troops, — these three latter pushing for Tuscaloosa, Selma, and Mont- 
gomery, and Sherman with a large army eating out the vitals of South 
Carolina, is all that will be wanted to leave nothing for the Rebellion to 
stand upon. I would advise you to overcome great obstacles to accom- 
plish this. Charleston was evacuated on Tuesday last." 

Sheridan started on the 27th of February with two divisions of cav- 

508 



THE LAST CAMPAIGN. 



509 



airy, numbering about ten thousand men, reached Staunton on the 2d of 
March, fell upon Early at Waynesboro', capturing sixteen hundred 
prisoners, eleven guns, seventeen battle-flags, and two hundred wagons; 
occupied Charlottesville on the 3d, destroyed the railroad, and burned 
the bridge on the Rivanna River. A rain-storm delaying his trains, and 




SHERIDAN AND HIS GENERALS. 



obliging him to wait two days, he abandoned the attempt to reach 
Sherman ; then dividing his force, he sent one division towards Lynch- 
burg, which broke up the railroad, while the other went down James 
River, cutting the canal. 

He intended to cross the James at New Market, move southeast to 
Appomattox Court House, strike the South Side Railroad, tear it up, 



510 THE BOYS OF '61. 

and join Grant's left flank ; but a freshet on the James prevented the 
accomplishment of his purpose. He therefore sent scouts through the 
rebel lines to Grant, to inform him of the difficulties he had encountered 
and the consequent change of plan. 

" I am going to White House, and shall want supplies at that point," 
said he. The scouts left him on the 10th at Columbia, and reached 
Grant on the 12th. Sheridan made a rapid march, passing quite near 
Richmond on the north, and raising a midnight alarm in the rebel 
capital. 

" Couriers reported that the enemy were at the outer fortifications, 
and had burned Ben Green's house," writes a citizen of Richmond. 

" Mr. Secretary Mallory and Postmaster-General Regan were in the 
saddle, and rumour says the President and the remainder of the Cabinet 
had their horses saddled, in readiness for flight." 

Sheridan was not quite so near, and had no thought of attacking the 
city. He passed quietly down the north bank of the Pamunkey to the 
White House, where supplies were in waiting. He rested his horses a 
day or two, and then moved to Petersburg. 

At daylight on the morning of the 25th of March, Lee made his last 
offensive movement. 

He conceived the idea of breaking Grant's line east of Petersburg, 
and destroying his supplies at City Point. The first part he successfully 
accomplished, but the last could not have been carried out. He massed 
Gordon's and Bushrod Johnson's divisions in front of the Ninth Corps, 
for an attack upon Fort Steadman and the batteries adjoining. The 
fort was held by the Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery. It was a 
square redoubt, covering about one acre, and mounted nine guns, and 
was not more than five hundred feet from the rebel line. The rebels 
tore away their own abatis, and in less than a minute were inside the 
fort. Almost the whole garrison was captured, and turned upon the 
batteries. 

Colonel Tidball, commanding the artillery in the Ninth Corps, quickly 
had his men at work. General Parke, commanding the Ninth, threw 
Hartranft's and Wilcox's divisions in rear of Fort Steadman. They fell 
like a thunderbolt upon Gordon's front line, taking eighteen hundred 
prisoners, forcing the enemy out of the fort, and recapturing the guns. 

Long and loud the huzzas which went up when the guns were wheeled 
once more upon the discomfited foe. President Lincoln saw the battle 
from the high ground near the house of Mr. Dunn. During the fore- 



THE LAST CAMPAIGN. 511 

noon Gordon sent in a flag of truce, asking permission to bury his dead, 
which was granted. The Union loss was not far from eight hundred 
and thirty, mostly in prisoners, while Lee's exceeded three thousand. 

General Meade ordered a general attack. He thought that there 
must be a weak place in some portion of the rebel line. The Second 
and Sixth Corps succeeded in taking the entrenched picket line, and 
holding it. Great efforts were made by Lee to regain it, but in vain. 
Nine hundred prisoners were captured during the afternoon. 

I rode to City Point in the evening, and visited Grant's headquarters. 
General Grant was well satisfied with the results of the day. 

" It will tell upon the next great battle," said he. " Lee has made a 
desperate attempt and failed. The new recruits fought like veterans." 

He had already issued his order for the grand movement which was 
to give the finishing blow to the Rebellion. He had been impelled to 
this by various causes, not the least of which was the unjust course pur- 
sued by some of the newspapers of the West, which lauded Sherman 
and his men, but sneered at the Army of the Potomac. The soldiers of 
the East had accomplished nothing, they said, and the soldiers of the 
West would have to finish the Rebellion. Sherman had fought his way 
from Chattanooga to the sea. He was driving all before him. He 
would come in on Grant's left flank and rout Lee. These taunts and 
innuendoes were keenly felt by the men who had won the fields of Gettys- 
burg, Antietam, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and who had lost eighty 
thousand of their comrades in forty days. Grant felt it. He saw the 
dangerous tendency of such jealousy. He knew what the Eastern 
soldiers could do ; that they had fought with unsurpassed bravery and 
heroism. To avoid sectional animosity between the East and the West, 
he determined to strike Lee before Sherman's arrival, and accordingly 
issued his order on the 24th. 

General Sherman, having reached North Carolina and opened com- 
munication with Wilmington, took a steamer and made his way to 
Grant's headquarters to confer with the commander-in-chief, while his 
army was resting and receiving fresh supplies of clothing and rations. 

On the morning of March 28th, while sitting in the adjutant-general's 
office at Grant's headquarters, I saw the door of the little cabin in which 
he had passed the winter open. Presently General Grant appeared, 
followed by President Lincoln, Generals Sherman, Meade, Sheridan, 
Ord, and Cook. A group of men whose names are writ large in the 
history of our country. 



512 THE BOYS OF '61. 

President Lincoln was most conspicuous, being taller than any others 
of the group and wearing a tall hat, round-shouldered, loose -jointed, 
with large features. Grant, at his right hand, was of low stature, com- 
pactly put together, silent, undemonstrative, wearing a stiff military 
hat, puffing a cigar. Sherman, tall, commanding forehead, almost as 
loosely built as the President. His sandy whiskers were closely cropped. 
His coat was shabby with constant wear. His trousers were tucked 
into his military boots. His felt hat was splashed with mud. He was 
talking and gesticulating, now to the President, now to Grant, now to 
Meade, who was also tall, with thin, sharp features, gray beard, wearing 
spectacles and a little stooping in his gait. Sheridan was the shortest 
of all in stature. But every movement was marked with energy. He 
was browned by exposure, but was courteous and affable. I had not 
met him for several months, but he greeted me cordially and spoke of 
the days at Pittsburg Landing in Tennessee, where I had made his 
acquaintance. 

They entered the room where I was sitting. The President extended 
his hand and said : 

" Where have you been during these weeks ? " 

" I have just returned from Savannah and Charleston." 

" Indeed ! And how do the people down there like the new order of 
things ? " 

" I infer that they are somewhat reconciled, for while at Savannah I 
saw a flatboat come down the river, piled with bales of cotton, which 
the owner was bringing to market, accompanied by his wife and chil- 
dren, and a negro woman and her children, of whom the planter was 
the supposed father." 

" Oh, yes. Patriarchal times have come once more. Abraham, Sarah, 
Hagar, Isaac, and Ishmael, all in the same boat." 

There was a merry twinkle in his eyes. The company enjoyed the 
humour of the President, who turned to the map lying on the table, 
showing the disposition of the troops. General Grant briefly outlined 
the situation of affairs, and pointed to Five Forks as a locality which he 
should endeavour to secure. His line was nearly forty miles long, 
extending from the north side of the James to Hatcher's Run. General 
Ord, who had succeeded Butler in command of the Army of the James, 
had left Weitzel to maintain the position north of James River, and was 
moving with two divisions of the Twenty-fourth Corps under Gibbon, 
and one of the Twenty-fifth under Birney, with a division of cavalry 



THE LAST CAMPAIGN. 513 

under McKenzie, to Hatcher's Run, arriving there on the morning of 
the 29th. 

On the afternoon of the 28th, Sheridan started with Crook's and 
Merritt's divisions of cavalry for Dinwiddie Court House, while Warren 
with the Fifth Corps crossed Hatcher's Run, and marched towards the 
same point. 

" We have four days' rations in our haversacks, and twelve days' in 
our wagons," said Colonel Batchelder, quartermaster-in-chief of the 
Army of the Potomac. 

Lee discovered the movement, and during the evening of the 29th 
made a diversion against the Ninth Corps. Precisely at ten o'clock 
there was a signal - gun, a yell, a volley of musketry as the rebels 
attacked Parke's picket -line. Then came the roar of the cannonade. 
The Ninth Corps was prepared. Through the afternoon there had been 
suspicious movements along the rebel lines, and Parke was on the 
watch. It was surmised that Lee would endeavour to compel Grant 
to recall the Fifth and Second Corps. Parke strengthened his picket- 
line, and brought up his reserve artillery, to be ready in case of emer- 
gency. In three minutes nearly two hundred guns and mortars were in 
play. The night was dark, the wind south, and rain falling, but the 
battle increased in intensity. I stood upon the hill in rear of the Ninth 
Corps, and witnessed the display. Thirty shells were in the air at the 
same instant. The horizon was bright with fiery arches, crossing each 
other at all angles, cut horizontally by streams of fire from rifled 
cannon. Beneath the arches thousands of muskets were flashing. It 
surpassed in sublimity anything I had witnessed during the war. 

During the day I had been to City Point to send despatches to the 
Boston Journal, and accepted an invitation to a lunch at the headquar- 
ters of the Christian Commission, where there were several clergymen 
from the North, who had volunteered to serve as nurses in the hospitals. 
Most of them doubtless had a laudable desire to see something of the 
war. One of them, a gentleman of the old school, had come wearing a 
claw-hammer coat and a glossy silk hat, a costume generally regarded 
as suited for an evening social party. He expressed a great desire to 
go to the front. If there was to be a battle he would like to be on the 
field to minister to the wounded and dying. The officers in charge at 
City Point graciously granted the request for a pass, and the clerical 
gentleman took the cars on the military railroad to minister to the 
soldiers in the trenches. 



514 THE BOYS OF '61. 

While the cannonade was going on I discerned, by the flashes of the 
guns, a figure approaching — a man running as best he could — his foot- 
steps quickened by the occasional thud of solid shots falling around us. 

" Do — you — think — they — will get up here ? " he asked, panting 
for breath. 

" One cannot always tell what will happen in battle," I replied. 

« What — shall — we — do ? " 

" We can tell better when the time comes." 

" Do — you — think — I — can — get — down — to — City — Point?" 

" Yes. There is a train on the railroad now. You can get on board, 
I guess." 

As he passed I saw by the flashing cannon, the claw-hammer coat 
and silk hat of the clerical gentleman, who had so ardently desired to 
minister to the wounded and dying on the field. He had seen enough 
of war, and it was not just what he thought it was. 

A soldier, who had been slightly wounded the day before and was in 
reserve, came and stood by my side. 

" I wish I was down there with the boys," he said. 

After two hours of terrific cannonade the uproar ceased, Lee having 
found that Grant's lines were as strong as ever. The demonstration 
cost him several hundred soldiers. I talked with one of the wounded 
Confederates. 

" You can't subdue us even if you take Richmond," said he ; " we '11 
fight it out in the mountains." 

" Undoubtedly you feel like fighting it out, but you may think better 
of it one of these days." 

A delegate of the Christian Commission sat down to write a letter for 
him to his wife, to be sent by a flag of truce. 

" Tell her," said he, " that I am kindly treated." 

His voice choked and tears rolled down his cheeks. A nurse stood 
over him bathing his wounds to cool the fever, combing his hair, and 
anticipating all his wants. I recalled the words of a citizen of Savannah, 
who said, " I went to the stockade when your prisoners were brought 
down from Millen, with a basket of oranges to give to the sick and 
dying, but was told by the officer in command that his orders were 
imperative to allow no one to give anything to the prisoners." 

Observe the contrast. Here were good beds, nourishing food, delica- 
cies from the stores of the Christian and Sanitary Commissions, and 
kind attention. There a crowd of wretches in rags, exposed to the 



THE LAST CAMPAIGN. 515 

winds, the rains, the broiling heat or the biting cold, eating corn-meal 
and water, and meat alive with maggots, — stinted till starved, held 
captive till hope died, till the mind wandered, and the victims became 
drivelling imbeciles or walking skeletons, and greeted death as a wel- 
come release from the horrors of their prison-pen. 

Hatcher's Run, an affluent of Rowanty Creek, has a general southeast 
course. It is crossed by three main highways, which lead out of Peters- 
burg towards the southwest, — the Vaughn road farthest east, Squirrel 
Level road next, and last the Boydtown plank road. The Squirrel Level 
road forks seven miles out, one fork running to the Vaughn road and 
the other to the plank road. It is nine miles from Petersburg to the 
toll-gate on the plank road, which is situated a few rods south of the 
run. The stream above this crossing of the plank road tends west and 
southwest, so that if a fisherman with his rod and fly were to start at 
the head-waters of the creek he would travel northeast, then east, then 
at the bridge on the plank road southeast, and after reaching the 
Vaughn road, south. 

Were we to stand upon the bridge where the plank road crosses the 
stream, and look northeast, we would obtain a view of the inside of the 
Confederate lines. The bridge was in Lee's possession, also the toll- 
gate on the south side, also a portion of the White Oak road, which 
branches from the plank road, near the toll-gate, and leads west, mid- 
way between the run and the plank road . 

The country was densely wooded, mostly with pine, with occasional 
clearings. Several steam sawmills had been erected in this vicinity, 
which cut timber for the Petersburg market. The plank road leads to 
Dinwiddie Court House, fifteen miles from Petersburg. Just beyond 
the Court House is Stony Creek, which has a southeast course, with a 
branch called Chamberlain's Bed, coining down from the north, having 
its rise in a swamp near the head of Hatcher's Run. 

Now to understand the direction of the Confederate line of fortifica- 
tions, let us in imagination start from Petersburg and walk down the 
plank road. We face southwest, and walk in rear of fort after fort nine 
miles to Hatcher's Run, where a strong work had been erected on the 
north bank of the stream. We cross the bridge and find another on the 
south bank near the toll-house and Burgess's tavern. Here we leave . 
the plank road, and, turning west, walk along the White Oak road with 
Hatcher's Run north of us, a mile distant. Four miles from the town 
we come to " Five Forks," where five roads meet, midway the head of 



516 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Chamberlain's Bed and Hatcher's Run. This was an important point, 
— the key of Petersburg, — which, although so far away from the town, 
and apparently of no importance, is in reality the most vital point of all. 
There is no stream immediately behind or before it, but a mile south 
is the swamp of Chamberlain's Run ; a mile north the low lands of 
Hatcher's Run, but here firm, hard ground. If Grant can break through 
this gateway he can tear up the rails of the South Side road, have unob- 
structed passage to the Danville road, and Richmond and Petersburg 
are his. It is six miles from the Forks, north, to the railroad, but that 
is the best place for Lee to fight, and there he establishes a strong line 
of works. 

Grant's movement was that of fishermen stretching a seine. He kept 
one end of the net firmly fastened to the bank of the Appomattox, while 
Sheridan drew the other past Dinwiddie Court House to Five Forks, with 
the intention of reaching the railroad west of Petersburg, to enclose, if 
possible, Lee's entire army. Such the plan, — noble in conception, grand 
in execution. 

Sheridan had started to cut the South Side road at Burkesville, but 
Grant, upon deliberation, decided to strike nearer. 

" I feel like ending the matter, if it is possible to do so, before going 
back," wrote Grant, from Gravelly Run, — three miles west of Hatcher's 
Run. " I do not want you to cut loose and go after the enemy's roads 
at present. In the morning push round the enemy if you can, and get 
on to his right rear." 

The rain, which commenced falling at midnight on the 29th, contin- 
ued through the 30th and the forenoon of the 31st, but Sheridan kept 
in motion, reached Dinwiddie at five o'clock on the 29th, where he 
bivouacked. 

On the morning of the 30th he came in contact with the enemy a 
mile beyond the Court House, posted on the west bank of Chamberlain's 
Run. 

W. H. F. Lee's cavalry held the right of the line, with Pickett's 
division of infantry on the left. During the forenoon Bushrod John- 
son's division of infantry came down from Five Forks and formed on 
Pickett's left. 

Sheridan reconnoitred the position during the forenoon, and began 
the attack about two p. m., but the ground was marshy, and his horses 
could not be used. Johnson's and Pickett's divisions, and Wise's bri- 
gade, which also had arrived, crossed the run about half past two. The 



! 



c -y;v\ 




mky^f v J ll II it 



THE LAST CAMPAIGN. 519 

fight was severe. Sheridan dismounted his men, deployed them as in- 
fantry, and contested the ground, falling back on Dinwiddie Court 
House, where the battle ended at eight o'clock in the evening. 

Meade ordered McKenzie's division of cavalry to hasten to the assist- 
ance of Sheridan, and at five o'clock directed Warren to push a small 
force down the White Oak road to communicate with that officer, and 
Bartlett's brigade was sent. During the night Warren's whole force 
moved towards Dinwiddie to attack Pickett and Johnson in the rear, 
and at daylight was ready for the assault ; but the rebels had decamped, 
and were once more in position at Five Forks. 

On the morning of the 1st of April, Sheridan, having command of the 
Fifth Corps, as well as the cavalry, moved cautiously towards Five Forks. 
The forenoon was passed in reconnoitring the position, which was de- 
fended by the whole of Pickett's division, Wise's independent brigade of 
infantry, Fitz Hugh Lee's, W. H. Lee's, and Ross's divisions of cavalry, 
and Johnson's division of infantry. 

Sheridan's order was to form the whole corps before advancing, so 
that all the troops should move simultaneously. 

Following the Fifth Corps, we came to the Gravelly Run church, 
which is about one and a half miles southeast of Five Forks. A 
quarter of a mile northwest of the church is the house of Mr. Bass, a 
landmark for the future historian, for there Sheridan's line turned a 
right angle. Ayers's division of the Fifth, marching past the church, 
wheeled on the north side of the house and faced west. Crawford's 
division passed on, and came into line north of Ayers's, while Griffin's 
stood in reserve on the White Oak road, in rear of Ayers's. McKenzie's 
cavalry, which had been some time on the ground, deflected to the right 
and held the line to Hatcher's Run, which here has a course due east. 
McKenzie, Crawford, Ayers, and Griffin therefore faced west. Taking 
the other leg of the angle, we find Stagg's division of cavalry nearest 
the house of Mr. Bass, then Gibbs's and Fitz Hugh's, Pennington's and 
Wells's, all facing north, and on the extreme left. Coppinger's facing 
northeast. Fitz Hugh's division was directly south of Five Forks. This 
powerful body of cavalry was all under the command of Major-General 
Merritt. 

The woods were dense, with here and there an opening. 

" Keep the sun shining over your left shoulders," was Warwick's 
order to his troops. The length of his front was about one thousand 
yards, and his divisions were in three lines, — numbering about twelve 



520 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



thousand. While the troops were forming, he drew a sketch of the 
enemy's position for each division commander, and instructed them to 
explain it to each brigade commander, that there might be no mistake 
in the movement. 




"THE FORENOON WAS PASSED IN RECONNOITRING THE POSITION." 

The cavalry, through the afternoon, while Warren was getting into 
position, kept up a skirmish fire. 

Sheridan was impatient. The sun was going down and he must 
attack at once or retire. He could not think of doing the latter, as it 
would give Pickett and Johnson time to make their entrenchments 
exceedingly strong. He ordered Merritt to make a demonstration. 
That officer advanced Wells and Coppinger against Johnson's extreme 
right. 



THE LAST CAMPAIGN. 521 

" I am going to strike their left flank with the Fifth Corps, and 
when you hear the musketry, assault all along the line," were his 
instructions to Merritt. 

The Fifth advanced in excellent order, sweeping round Pickett's left 
flank, and falling on his rear. For a half-hour there was a heavy fire, 
but the woods being dense the loss was not very great. When the order 
to charge bayonets was given, the men rushed forward, leaped over the 
entrenchments, and captured Pickett's front line. Pickett formed a 
new line, which he endeavoured to hold against the Fifth. Warren 
ordered Crawford to take them once more in flank, and sent one of 
McKenzie's brigades to aid him. Ayers's and Griffin's divisions had 
become disorganised by the success, but reforming, they advanced along 
the White Oak road, but were checked by Pickett's new line. Officers 
were urging the men forward, but there was faltering. Warren, accom- 
panied by Captain Benyaud, rode to the front, and called upon his 
officers to follow his example. Officers of all ranks, from generals to 
subalterns and the colour-bearers, sprang forward. In an instant the 
line rallied, and with fixed bayonets leaped upon the enemy, and captured 
the whole force opposing them. Warren's horse fell, fatally shot, 
and an orderly by his side was killed, within a few paces of the 
entrenchment. When Merritt heard the roll of musketry he ordered 
the attack. His cavalrymen rode fearlessly through the woods, dashed 
up to the entrenchments, leaped over them and carried the entire line 
along his front in the first grand charge. 

" The enemy," says Sheridan, " were driven from their strong line of 
works, completely routed ; the Fifth Corps doubling up their left flank 
in confusion, and the cavalry of General Merritt dashing on to the 
White Oak road, capturing their artillery, turning it upon them, and 
riding into their broken ranks, so demoralised them that they made no 
serious stand after their line was carried, but took flight in disorder. 

It was now nearly dark, but Merritt and McKenzie followed the 
enemy, who threw away their guns and knapsacks, and sought safety in 
flight, or, finding themselves hard pressed, surrendered. 

Between five and six thousand prisoners and eighteen pieces of 
artillery were captured. The way was open to the South Side Railroad. 
Grant determined to turn the success to quick account. " Attack along 
the whole line," was his message to the corps commanders. 

At ten o'clock Saturday evening, the cannonade began. All the 
batteries joined, all the forts, the gunboats in the Appomattox, the bat- 



522 THE BOYS OF '61. 

teries west of Bermuda Hundred, and the monitors by the Howlet 
House. There was a continual succession of flashes and an unbroken 
roll of thunder. The rebels had no peace during the night. 

"Send up the provost brigade," was Grant's despatch sent to City 
Point. He determined to utilise his entire army and put an end to the 
struggle. 

" Send up the marines to guard the prisoners," was his second des- 
patch, and the blue-jackets from the gunboats, with carbines, were sent 
ashore. The sailors took cars at City Point, and sang all the way to 
Hatcher's Run, as if they were having a lark. 

Lee was in trouble. He sent a message to Longstreet, who was north 
of the James, to hurry to Petersburg. Longstreet put Ewell in com- 
mand and hastened across the James, with Fields's division. Lee had 
three bridges, besides those in Richmond ; one at Warwick's, another at 
Knight's farm, and the third at Chaffin's Bluff. Longstreet, Lee's ablest 
general, stout, robust, with his staff, galloped across the middle bridge 
towards Petersburg, leaving his troops to follow. 

The Richmond bells were ringing, not a psean of victory, as after 
some of their successful battles, but for the assembling of the militia to 
man the fortifications from which Longstreet's troops were retiring. 

Let us look at Lee's lines at midnight, Saturday, April 1st. Johnson, 
Pickett, Wise, W. H. F. Lee's cavalry are fleeing towards the Appomat- 
tox, beyond Hatcher's Run ; A. P. Hill is holding the line east of the 
Run ; Gordon occupies the fortifications from Jerusalem road to the 
Appomattox ; Longstreet is hastening down from Richmond ; Ewell is 
north of the James, and the citizens of Richmond are jumping from their 
beds to shoulder muskets for service in the trenches. Lee has not yet 
decided to evacuate Petersburg. He will wait and see what a day may 
bring forth. 

He had not long to wait. Parke, commanding the Ninth Corps, dur- 
ing the night, prepared to assault. It was precisely four o'clock when 
the divisions leaped from their entrenchments, and with bayonets fixed, 
without firing a gun, tore away the abatis in front of the forts, swarmed 
over the embankments, crawled into the embrasures, and climbed the 
parapet. It was the work of five minutes only, but four forts, mounting 
between twenty and thirty guns, were taken, with seven hundred 
prisoners. 

Grant began early on Sunday morning to draw the farther end of the 
net toward Petersburg. Sheridan, with the calvary and two divisions of 



THE LAST CAMPAIGN. 523 

the Fifth, moved upon Sutherland's Station on the South Side Railroad, 
eleven miles from Petersburg. Grant sent him Miles's division of the 
Second Corps. Wright and Ord, east of the run, at nine o'clock as- 
saulted the works in their front, and after a severe struggle carried them, 
capturing all the guns and several thousand prisoners. 

Humphrey, who was west of the run, now was able to leave his 
position and join Wright and Ord. By noon we see the net drawn 
close. Sheridan at Sutherland's, with the Fifth Corps, then Hum- 
phrey, Ord, and Wright, all swinging towards the city, taking fort after 
fort and contracting the lines. 

In the morning, I watched the movements on the left, but as the line 
advanced, hastened east in season to see the last attack on Forts Mahone 
and Gregg, the two strongholds south of the town. These forts were in 
rear of the main Confederate line, on higher ground. 

The troops in columns of brigades, moved steadily over the field, 
drove in the Confederate pickets, received the fire of the batteries without 
breaking, leaped over the breastworks with a huzza, which rang shrill and 
clear above the cannonade. Mahone was an embrasured battery of three 
guns ; Gregg, a strong fort with sally-ports, embrasures for six guns, 
and surrounded by a deep ditch. Mahone was carried with a rush, the 
men mounting the escarpment, regardless of the fire poured upon them. 

There was a long struggle for the possession of Gregg. Heth and 
Wilcox were there, animating the garrison. The attacking columns 
moved in excellent order over the field swept by the guns of the fort, and 
even received the canister without staggering. The fort was enveloped 
in smoke, showing that the defence was heroic, as well as the assault. 

I dismounted from my horse and made my way well towards the fort, 
that I might see what I believed might be the ending of the siege of 
Petersburg. The advancing lines moved in compact order. They had 
heard of the successes along the line, and were nerved to heroic effort. 
They sprang into the ditch and for a moment were lost to view. The 
fort above them was lost to sight by the smoke from the Confederate 
guns. The next moment a line of view disappeared in the cloud, then 
a hurrah came to my ears — suddenly the rattle of the musketry died 
away — the cloud rose heavenward, and above the gleaming bayonets I 
could see the Stars and Stripes waving in the breeze. 

Through many weary months Fort Gregg had thundered defiance, but 
its guns never again would hurl their missiles upon the men who were 
fighting to maintain the Republic. Sheridan had seized Lee's lines at 



524 THE BOYS OF '61. 

their farthest extremity, and now they were broken at the centre, and 
Petersburg was no longer tenable. 

It was inspiriting to stand there, and watch the tide of victory rolling 
up the hill. With that Sunday's sun the hopes of the rebels set, never 
to rise again. The C. S. A., — the Confederate Slave Argosy, — freighted 
with blood and groans and tears, the death-heads and cross-bones at her 
masthead, furnished with guns, ammunition, and all needful supplies by 
sympathetic England, was a shattered, helpless wreck. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

IX RICHMOND. 

At three o'clock the following morning I was awakened by an ex- 
plosion which jarred the earth. It was the blowing up of the Confed- 
erate ironclads in James River. The shock aroused the entire army, 
which needed no other reveille that morning. The soldiers were on their 
feet in an instant, and General Willcox (commanding the first division 
of the Ninth Corps) accepted it as a signal to advance. He was lying 
east of the city, his right jesting on the Appomattox. His men sprang 
forward, but found only deserted works. The last body of Confeder- 
ates, the lingerers who were remaining to plunder the people of Peters- 
burg, took to their heels, and the division entered the town without 
opposition. 

The entire army was in motion. Engineers hurried up with pontoons, 
strung them across the Appomattox, and Grant began the pursuit. I 
entered the town soon after sunrise, and found troops pouring in from 
all quarters, cheering, swinging their caps, helping themselves to 
tobacco, rushing upon the double-quick, eager to overtake Lee. 

The coloured population thronged the streets, swinging their old hats, 
bowing low, and shouting " Glory ! " " Bless de Lord ! " " I's been a 
praying for dis yere to happen, but didn't 'spect it quite so soon." " It 
jes like a clap of thunder," said an old negro. 

" I's glad to see you. I 'm been trying and wishing and praying dat 
de Lord would help me get to de Yankees, and now dey has come into 
dis yere city," said another. The citizens of the place, also, were in the 
streets, amazed and confounded at what had happened. Provost- Gen- 
eral Macy, of Massachusetts, established a guard to prevent depredations 
and to save the army from demoralisation. The Confederates, before 
retreating, destroyed their commissary stores, and set all the tobacco 
warehouses on fire. I took a hurried survey of the works in front of 
Fort Steadman, and found them very strong. The ground was honey- 
combed by the shells which had been thrown from the mortars of the 
Ninth Corps. 

525 



526 THE BOYS OF '61. 

General Grant was early in Petersburg, cool, calm, and evidently 
well-pleased with the aspect of affairs. President Lincoln came. The 
soldiers swung their hats and cheered lustily as they caught sight of 
him riding through the streets. I stopped with him a few moments 
upon the piazza of a mansion. On the previous Friday he was careworn 
and anxious, but the intervening events had smoothed the wrinkles from 
his brow. He could see that the end of the great struggle was not far 
away, but after the conflict of arms would come the great question of 
reconstruction. We now know that for many weeks he had been 
pondering the momentous problem. 

I had an ardent desire to see Richmond. The army was moving to 
overtake Lee. By going to the Confederate capital I might view the final 
scene, but there would be much to see, much which the readers of the 
newspaper which I represented would like to know about in Richmond, 
and I decided to visit that city. Hastening to City Point to send my 
despatches northward, I mounted my horse, crossed the Appomattox 
at Broadway, rode to Varina, a solitary traveller, riding where, a few 
hours before, the Confederate troops had held the ground, I crossed the 
James on the pontoons, and approached the city over the New Market 
road, overtaking a division of the Twenty-fifth Corps on the outskirts of 
the city. It was a rapid and exhausting ride. 

Before entering the Confederate capital let us review the state of 
affairs in the city. The inhabitants when they sat down to breakfast 
on Sunday morning had received no information in regard to the battle 
at Five Forks or the reverses to Lee around Petersburg. So far as I 
have been able to discover, even President Davis nor John C. Brecken- 
ridge, Secretary of War, had learned of the disaster to their army. It 
does not appear that General Lee on Sunday saw that he must evacuate 
Richmond. It seems probable that he thought the disaster might be 
retrieved by Longstreet's and A. P. Hill's troops, and that Sheridan 
might be forced from the position he had secured. 

A. P. Hill, on Saturday, suddenly found himself confronted by a half 
dozen Union soldiers. He called upon them to surrender. They replied 
by a volley. He reeled from his horse, and died instantly. Lee had 
lost one of his ablest commanders. His death made little difference, 
however, for the hour of doom to the Confederacy had come. 

Early Sunday morning the church-bells summoned the citizen soldiers 
of Richmond to seize their guns and hasten to the breastworks from 
which Longstreet's troops had withdrawn. Many times before the 



IN EICHMOND. 



527 



alarm had been sounded. The citizens had been accustomed to the bells 
and were not greatly disturbed. Again at ten o'clock they rang, 
summoning them to religious service. The latest news was the assault 
of the Confederates upon Fort Steadman, and that Grant had met with 
a crushing defeat. 

General Breckenridge was in his office in the War Department a few 
minutes before eleven o'clock Sunday morning, when the operator read 
to him a startling message from Lee : 




CASTLE THUNDER, RICHMOND, VA. 
WHERE UNION PRISONERS WERE CONFINED. 

"It is absolutely necessary that we should abandon our position to- 
night, or run the risk of being cut off in the morning." 

President Davis was attending worship in St. Paul's Church, when a 
messenger marched up the aisle and placed the despatch in his hands. 

The congregation saw him read it, and then, with concern upon his 
face, hastily leave the church. Other people left. So many that the 
rector, Rev. Mr. Minnegerode, abruptly concluded the service. 

The rumour was on the street that Richmond must be evacuated. In 
a very short time the streets were thronged with fugitives, loaded with 
bags and bundles, making their way to the Danville railroad station. 



528 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Wagons were being loaded. Before sundown a special train carried 
away President Davis and his Cabinet, and the gold which had been 
hoarded in the Confederate Treasury. In the Departments of Govern- 
ment there was utter confusion. In the streets, women were weeping 
and wailing. It was the harvest time for hack men and cartmen, 
who could demand a hundred dollars for a fare. But the Con- 
federate money, a few hours later, was to have no more value than the 
last year's withered leaves of the forest. 

Within pistol-shot of the mansion which President Davis had occu- 
pied was the prison house of the slave-traders, a dark and gloomy build- 
ing with iron grated cells. The slave-dealer, Mr. Lampkins, quickly 
handcuffed his human chattels, and marched them to the railroad station, 
but there was no room for them on the train which whirled the Con- 
federate Government from the capital. Soldiers with fixed bayonets 
forced them back. It was the last slave gang seen in this Western world. 
With oaths and curses loud and deep at his hard luck, the slave-dealer 
was obliged to unlock their handcuffs and allow them to go free. They 
had been worth fifty thousand dollars, but on that Sunday morning were 
of less value than the mule and the wagon which had drawn the slave- 
trader's trunk to the station. The " corner-stone " of the Confederacy 
had crumbled to atoms. As the sun went down, the President and his 
secretaries, together with several Doctors of Divinity who had preached 
eloquent sermons in support of slavery as a beneficent institution 
ordained of God for the welfare of the human race, whirled away from 
the station, leaving behind a panic-stricken crowd. 

Soon after dark the commissaries, having loaded all the army wagons 
with supplies, began the destruction of what they could not carry away. 
In the medical purveyor's department were several hundred barrels of 
whiskey, which were rolled into the street and stove in by soldiers with 
axes. As the liquor ran down the gutter, officers and soldiers filled 
their flasks and canteens, while those who had no canteen threw them- 
selves upon the ground and drank from the fiery stream. The rabble with 
pitchers, basins, dipped it up and drank as if it were the wine of life. 
The liquor soon began to show its effects. The crowd became a mob, 
and rushed upon the stores and Government warehouses. The soldiers 
on guard at first kept them at bay, but as the darkness deepened the 
whiskey-maddened crowd became more furious. By midnight there was 
a grand saturnalia. The flour in the Government stores was seized. 
Men were seen, rolling hogsheads of bacon through the streets. Women 




A SLAVE MARKET. 



IN RICHMOND. 531 

filled their aprons with meal, their arms with candles. Later in the 
night the floating debris of the army reached the city, — the teamsters, 
servants, ambulance-drivers, with stragglers from the ranks, who pillaged 
the stores. First attacking the clothing, boot, and hat stores, then the 
jewellers' shops and the saloons, and lastly the dry-goods establishments. 
Costly panes of glass were shivered by the butts of their muskets, and the 
reckless crowd poured in to seize whatever for the moment pleased their 
fancy, to be thrown aside the next instant for something more attractive. 

" As I passed the old market-house," writes a rebel soldier, " I met a 
tall fellow with both arms full of sticks of candy, dropping part of his 
sweet burden at every step. 

" ' Stranger,' said he, ' have you got a sweet tooth ? ' 

" I told him that I did not object to candy. 

'"Then go up to Antoni's and get your belly full, and all for nothing.' 

" A citizen passed me with an armful of hats and caps. ' It is every 
man for himself and the devil for us all to-night,' he said, as he rushed 
past me." 

The Governor of Virginia, William Smith, and the Legislature, em- 
barked in a canal-boat, on the James River and Kanawha Canal, for 
Lynchburg. On all the roads were men, women, and children, in car- 
riages of every description, with multitudes on horseback and on foot, 
flying from the capital. Men who could not get away were secretly at 
work, during those night-hours, burying plate and money in gardens ; 
ladies secreted their jewels, barred and bolted their doors, and passed a 
sleepless night, fearful of the morrow, which would bring in the despised 
" Vandal horde of Yankee ruffians ; " for such were the epithets they had 
persistently applied to the soldiers of the Union throughout the war. 

But the Government was not quite through with its operations in 
Richmond. General Ewell remained till daylight on Monday morning 
to clear up things, — not to burn public archives in order to destroy 
evidence of Confederate villainy, but to add to the crime already commit- 
ted another so atrocious that the staunchest friends of the Confederacy 
recoiled with horror even from its contemplation. 

It was past midnight when the mayor learned that EAvell had issued 
orders for firing the Government buildings and the tobacco warehouses. 
He sent a deputation of prominent citizens to remonstrate. They were 
referred to Major Melton, who was to apply the torch. 

" It is a cowardly pretext on the part of the citizens, trumped up to 
save their property for the Yankees," said he. 



532 THE BOYS OF '61. 

The committee endeavoured to dissuade him from the act. 

" I shall execute my orders," said he. 

They went to General Ewell, who with an oath informed them that 
the torch would be applied at daylight. Breckenridge was there, who 
said that it would be a disgrace to the Confederate Government to 
endanger the destruction of the entire city. He was Secretary of War, 
and could have countermanded the order. 

To prevent the United States from obtaining possession of a few 
thousand hogsheads of tobacco, a thousand houses were destroyed by 
fire, the heart of the city burnt out, all of the business portion, all the 
banks and insurance offices, half of the newspapers, with mills, depots, 
bridges, foundries, workshops, dwellings, churches, thirty squares in 
all, swept clean by the devouring flames. It was the final work of the 
Confederate Government. Inaugurated in heat and passion, carried on 
by hate and prejudice, its end was but in keeping with its career, — the 
total disregard of the rights of person and property. 

In the outskirts of the city, on the Mechanicsville road, was the alms- 
house, filled with the lame, the blind, the halt, — poor, sick, bedridden 
creatures. Ten rods distant was a magazine containing fifteen or 
twenty kegs of powder, which might have been rolled into the creek 
near at hand, and was of little value to a victorious army with full supplies 
of ammunition ; but the order of Jefferson Davis to blow up the maga- 
zines was peremptory and must be executed. 

" We give you fifteen minutes to get out of the way," was the sole 
notice to that crowd of helpless beings lying in their cots, at three 
o'clock in the morning. Men and women begged for mercy, but their 
cries were in vain. The officer in charge of the matter was inexorable. 
Clothesless and shoeless, the inmates ran in terror from the spot to seek 
shelter in the ravines, but those who could not run while the train to 
fire it was being laid, rent the air with shrieks of agony. The match 
was applied at the time. The concussion crushed in the broad side of 
the house as if it had been pasteboard. Windows flew into flinders. 
Bricks, stones, timbers, beams, and boards were whirled through the air. 
Trees were twisted off like withes in the hands of a giant. The city 
Avas wrenched and rocked as by a volcanic convulsion. The dozen poor 
wretches whose infirmities prevented their leaving the house were hor- 
ribly mangled, and when the fugitives who had sought shelter in the 
fields returned to the ruins, they found only the bruised and blackened 
remains of their fellow-inmates. 



IN RICHMOND. 533 

Let us take a parting glance at the rebel army as it leaves the city. 

The day is brightening in the east. The long line of baggage wagons 
and artillery has been rumbling over the bridges all night. The rail- 
road trains have been busy in conveying the persons and property of 
both the Government and the people, but the last has departed, and still 
a disappointed crowd is left at the depot. The roads leading west are 
filled with fugitives in all sorts of vehicles, and on horseback and on 
foot. 

Men are rolling barrels of tar and turpentine upon the bridges. 
Guards stand upon the Manchester side to prevent the return of any 
soldier belonging to Richmond. Custis Lee's division has crossed, and 
Kershaw's division, mainly of South Carolinians, follows. The troops 
marched silently ; they are depressed in spirit. The rabble of Man- 
chester have found out what fine times their friends in Richmond are 
having, and old women and girls are streaming across the bridges laden 
with plunder, — webs of cloth, blankets, overcoats, and food from the 
Government storehouses. The war-worn soldiers, ragged and barefoot, 
behold it, and utter curses against the Confederate Government for hav- 
ing deprived them of clothing and food. 

General Ewell crosses the bridge, riding an iron - gray horse. He 
wears an old faded cloak and slouch hat. He is brutal and profane, 
mingling oaths with his orders. Following him is John Cabal Brecken- 
ridge, the long, black, glossy hair of other days changed to gray, his 
high, broad forehead wrinkled and furrowed. He is in plain black, with a 
talma thrown over his shoulders. He talks with Ewell, and gazes upon 
the scene. Suddenly, a broad flash of light leaps up beyond the city, 
accompanied by a dull, heavy roar, and he sees the air filled with flying 
timbers of the hospital, whose inmates, almost without warning, and 
without cause or crime, are blown into eternity. 

The last division has crossed the river. The sun is up. A match is 
touched to the turpentine spread along the timbers, and the bridges are 
in flames ; also the tobacco warehouses, the flouring-mills, the arsenals, 
and laboratory. The departing troops behold the conflagration as they 
wind along the roads and through the green fields towards the south- 
west, and memory brings back the scenes of their earlier rejoicing. It 
is the 2d of April, four years, lacking two weeks, since the drunken 
carousal over the passage of the ordinance of Secession. 

It was a little past four o'clock when Major A. H. Stevens of the 
Fourth Massachusetts cavalry, and Provost-Marshal of the Twenty -fifth 



534 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Army Corps, with detachments from Companies E and H, started upon 
a reconnoissance of the enemy's entrenchments. He found them evacu- 
ated, and the guns spiked. A deserter piloted the detachment safely over 
the torpedoes which had been planted in front of them. A mile and a 
half out from the city, Major Stevens met a barouche and five men 
mounted bearing a white flag. The party consisted of the mayor, Judge 
Meredith of the Confederate States Court, and other gentlemen, who 
tendered the surrender of the city. He went into the city and was 
received with joy by the coloured people, who shouted their thanks to 
the Lord that the Yankees had come. He proceeded to the Capitol, 
ascended the roof, pulled down the State flag which was flying, and 
raised the guidons of the two companies upon the building. 

The flames were spreading, and the people, horror-struck and stupefied 
by the events of the night, were powerless to arrest them. On, on, 
from dwelling to warehouse, from store to hotel, from hotel to banks, 
to the newspaper offices, to churches, all along Main Street from near 
the Spottswood Hotel to the eastern end of the town ; then back to the 
river, to the bridges across the James, up to the large stone fire-proof 
building, erected by the United States for a post-office, full of Confeder- 
ate shinplasters, around this, on both sides of it, up to Capitol Square, 
the flames roared and leaped and crackled, consuming all the business 
part of the city. In the arsenal were several thousand shells, which 
exploded at intervals, throwing fragments of iron, burning timbers, and 
blazing brands and cinders over the surrounding buildings, and driving 
the people from their homes. 

Major Stevens ordered the fire-engines into position, posted his sol- 
diers to preserve order, and called upon the citizens to work the engines, 
and did what he could to stop the progress of the devouring element. 

General Weitzel triumphantly entered the city at eight o'clock, the 
coloured soldiers singing the John Brown song. With even ranks and 
steady step, colours waving, drums beating, bands playing, the columns 
passed up the streets, flanked with fire, to the Capitol. Then stacking 
their guns, and laying aside their knapsacks, they sprang to the engines, 
or mounted the roofs, and poured in buckets of water, or tore down 
buildings, to stop the ravages of the fire kindled by the departing troops, 
emulating the noble example of their comrades in arms at Charleston ; 
like them manifesting no vindictiveness of spirit, but forgetting self in 
their devotion to duty, forgetting wrong and insult and outrage in their 
desire to serve their oppressors in their hour of extremity. 



IN RICHMOND. 



535 



The business portion was a sea of flame when 1 entered the city in 
the afternoon. I tried to pass through Main Street, but on both sides 




DESOLATION OF WAR AROUND RICHMOND. 

the fire was roaring and walls were tumbling. I turned into a side 
street, rode up to the Capitol, and then to the Spottswood Hotel. The 
church in front was in flames. On the three sides of the hotel the fire 



536 THE BOYS OF '61. 

had been raging, but was now subdued, and there was a fair prospect 
that it would be saved. 

" Can you accommodate me with a room ? " 

" I reckon we can, sir, but like enough you will be burnt out before 
morning. You can have any room you choose. Nobody here." 

I registered my name on a page which bore the names of a score of 
Confederate officers who had left in the morning, and took a room on 
the first floor, from which I could easily spring to the ground in case the 
hotel should be again endangered by the fire. 

Throwing up the sash, I looked out upon the scene. There were 
swaying chimneys, tottering walls, streets impassable from piles of brick, 
stones, and rubbish. Capitol Square was filled with furniture, beds, 
clothing, crockery, chairs, tables, looking-glasses. Women were weep- 
ing, children crying. Men stood speechless, haggard, woebegone, gazing 
at the desolation. 

In Charleston the streets echoed only to the sound of my own foot- 
steps or the snarling of hungry curs. There I walked through weeds, 
and trod upon flowers in the grassy streets ; but in Richmond I waded 
through Confederate promises to pay, public documents, and broken 
furniture and crockery. 

Granite columns, iron pillars, marble facades, broken into thousands 
of pieces, blocked the streets. The Bank of Richmond, Bank of the 
Commonwealth, Traders' Bank, Bank of Virginia, Farmers' Bank, a 
score of private banking-houses, the American Hotel, the Columbian 
Hotel, the Enquirer and the Dispatch printing-offices, the Confederate 
Post-office Department, the State court-house, the Mechanics' Institute, 
all the insurance offices, the Confederate War Department, the Confed- 
erate Arsenal, the Laboratory, Dr. Reed's church, several foundries and 
machine-shops, the Henrico County court-house, the Danville and the 
Petersburg depots, the three bridges across the James, the great flouring- 
mills, and all the best stores of the city, were destroyed. 

Soldiers from General Devens's command were on the roof of the 
Capitol, Governor's house, and other buildings, ready to extinguish the 
flames. The Capitol several times caught fire from cinders. 

" If it had not been for the soldiers the whole city would have gone," 
said a citizen. 

The coloured soldiers in Capitol Square were dividing their rations 
with the houseless women and children, giving them hot coffee, sweet- 
ened with sugar, — such as they had not tasted for many months. There 



IN RICHMOND. 



537 



were ludicrous scenes. One negro had three Dutch ovens on his head, 
piled one above another, a stew-pan in one hand and a skillet in the 
other. Women had bags of flour on their arms, baskets of salt and 
pails of molasses, or sides of bacon. No miser ever gloated over his 
gold so eagerly as they over their supply of provisions. They had all 
but starved, but now they could eat till satisfied. 

How stirring the events of that day ! Lee retreating, Grant pursuing ; 
Davis a fugitive ; the Governor 
and Legislature of Virginia seek- 
ing safety in a canal-boat ; Doctors 
of Divinity fleeing from the wrath 
they feared ; the troops of the 
Union marching up the streets ; 
the old flag waving over the Cap- 
itol ; rebel ironclads blowing up ; 
Richmond on fire ; the billows 
rolling from square to square, un- 
opposed in their progress by the 
bewildered crowd ; the coloured 
troops who had been sold on the 
auction block, — men who had 
never had a country, who were 
bound by no political bonds to be 
human, — laying down their guns 
to extinguish the flames ! 

In the morning I visited the 
Capitol building, which, like the 
Confederacy, had become exceed- 
ingly dilapidated, the windows broken, the carpets faded, the paint 
dingy." 

General Weitzel was in the Senate Chamber issuing his orders ; also 
General Shepley, Military Governor, and General Devens. 

The door opened and a smooth-faced man, with a keen eye, firm, quick, 
resolute step, entered. He wore a plain blue blouse with three stars on 
the collar. It was the hero who opened the way to New Orleans, and 
who fought the battle of the Mobile forts from the mast-head of his 
vessel, — Admiral Farragut. He was accompanied by General Gordon, 
of Massachusetts, commanding the Department of Norfolk. They heard 
the news Monday noon, and made all haste up the James, landing at 




REAR-ADMIRAL DAVID G. FARRAGUT. 



538 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Varina and taking horses to the city. It was a pleasure to take the 
brave Admiral's hand, and answer his eager questions as to what Grant 
had done. Being latest of all present from Petersburg, I could give him 
the desired information. " Thank God, it is about over," said he. 

It was a little past noon when I walked down the river bank to view 
the desolation. While there I saw a boat pulled by twelve rowers 
coming up-stream, containing President Lincoln and his little son, 
Admiral Porter, and three officers. 

I had spoken with the President in Petersburg on the morning of the 
preceding day. Recognising me, he asked if I knew where General 
Weitzel, who was in command at Richmond, had established his head- 
quarters. I replied in the affirmative. 

Not far away a lieutenant had some forty or fifty coloured men at 
work, laying a bridge across the canal. Turning to one, I said : 

" 1 suppose you were a slave." 

" Yes, boss." 

" Would you like to see the man who gave you your freedom — 
Abraham Lincoln ? There he is." 

" Is dat Mars Linkum, sure, boss." 

" That is he." 

" Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Mars Linkum ! Mars Linkum ! " 

He leaped in wild ecstasy, and tossed his hat into the air. In a mo- 
ment, the entire company were shouting and running to gather round 
the man who had given them their freedom. 

" Be dat Mars Linkum, sure ? " 

A negro woman who came from a little cabin asked this question. 

I assured her it was President Lincoln. 

" Glory ! Glory ! Glory ! " she shouted, clapping her hands and 
leaping into the air. It was not a hurrah that they gave so much as 
a wild, jubilant cry of inexpressible joy. 

They pressed round the President, ran ahead, and hovered upon the 
flanks and rear of the little company. Men, women, and children joined 
the constantly increasing throng. They came from all the streets, run- 
ning in breathless haste, shouting and hallooing, and dancing with de- 
light. The men threw up their hats, the women waved their bonnets 
and handkerchiefs, clapped their hands, and shouted, " Glory to God ! 
glory ! glory ! glory ! " — rendering all the praise to God, who had given 
them freedom, after long years of weary waiting, and had permitted 
them thus unexpectedly to meet their great benefactor. 






IN RICHMOND. 541 

" I thank you, dear Jesus, that I behold President Linkum ! " was the 
exclamation of a woman who stood upon the threshold of her humble 
home, and, with streaming eyes and clasped hands, gave thanks aloud to 
the Saviour of men. 

Another, more demonstrative, was jumping and swinging her arms, 
crying, " Bless de Lord ! Bless de Lord ! Bless de Lord ! " as if there 
could be no end to her thankfulness. 

No carriage was to be had, so the President, leading his son, walked 
to General Weitzel's headquarters, — Jeff Davis's mansion. Six sailors, 
wearing their round blue caps and short jackets and baggy pants, with 
navy carbines, formed the guard. Next came the President and Admiral 
Porter, flanked by the officers accompanying him, and the writer, then 
six more sailors with carbines, — twenty of us in all. 

We reached the foot of Capitol Hill. Before ascending it the Presi- 
dent halted a moment to rest and wipe the perspiration from his brow. 
The crowd had increased to possibly three thousand. I could see glow- 
ering looks on the faces of some of the white men in the throng. An 
old negro, barefooted, on that April afternoon, his shirt and trousers of 
gunny cloth, with no coat, wearing a dilapidated straw hat, stepped into 
the space before the President, laid aside his hat, and half kneeling, 
clasped his hands, and asked God to bless the man who had given his 
race their freedom. The President lifted his hat, and bowed his head, 
till the old negro had finished his prayer. 

A few cavalrymen and soldiers arrived, and cleared the way, up Broad 
Street to the mansion which had been purchased by the Confederate 
Government for Jefferson Davis, in which General Weitzel had estab- 
lished his headquarters. The sailors formed in line by the door. The 
President entered the house, and sat wearily down in an arm-chair 
which stood in the fugitive President's reception-room. General Weitzel 
introduced the officers present. Judge Campbell entered. At the be- 
ginning of the war he was on the bench of the Supreme Court of the 
United States, afterwards espoused Secession, and was appointed assist- 
ant Secretary of War under Seddon. He was tall, and looked pale, 
care-worn, agitated, and bowed very low to the President, who received 
him with dignity, and yet cordially. 

President Lincoln, accompanied by Admiral Porter, General Weitzel, 
and General Shepley, rode through the city, escorted by a squadron of 
cavalry, followed by thousands of coloured people, shouting " Glory to 
God!" 



542 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Mr. Lincoln was much affected as they crowded around the carriage 
to grasp his hand. 

He visited Libby prison, breathed for a moment its fetid air, gazed 
upon the iron-grated windows and the reeking filth upon the slippery 
floors, and gave way to uncontrollable emotions. 

Visiting the prison the next morning, I found it occupied by several 




IN LIBBY PRISON. 



hundred Confederates, who were peering from the grated windows, 
looking sadly upon the desolation around thorn. A large number were 
upon the roof, breathing the fresh air, and gazing upon the fields 
beyond the James, now green with the verdure of spring. Such liberty 
was never granted Union prisoners. Whoever approached the prison 
bars, or laid his hand upon them, was shot. 



IN RICHMOND. 543 

There was a crowd of women with pails and buckets at the windows, 
giving the prisoners provisions, and talking freely with their friends, 
who came not only to the windows, but to the door, where the good- 
natured sentinel allowed conversation without restraint. 

The officer in charge conducted our party through the wards. The 
air was saturated with vile odours, arising from the unwashed crowd, 
from old rags and dirty garments, from puddles of filthy water which 
dripped through the floor, ran down the walls, sickening to all the 
senses. From this prison fifteen hundred men were hurried to the flag- 
of-truce boat on Sunday, that they might be exchanged before the 
evacuation of the city. . Many thousands had lived there month after 
month, wasting away, starving, dying of fever, of consumption, of all 
diseases known to medical science, — from insanity, despair, idiocy, — 
having no communication with the outer world, no food from friends, 
no sympathy, no compassion, tortured to death through rigour of 
imprisonment, by men whose hearts grew harder from day to day by 
the brutality they practised. 

" Please give me a bit of bread, aunty, I am starving," was the plea 
one day of a young soldier who saw a negro woman passing the window. 
He thrust his emaciated hand between the bars and clutched the bit 
which she cheerfully gave him ; but before it had passed between his 
teeth he saw the brains of his benefactress spattered upon the sidewalk 
by the sentinel. 

Although the city was in possession of the Union forces, there were 
many residents who believed that Lee would retrieve the disaster. 

" I was sorry," said a citizen, " to see the Stars and Stripes torn down 
in 1861. It is the prettiest flag in the world, but I shed tears when I 
saw it raised over the Capitol of Virginia on Sunday morning." 

" Why so ? " I asked. 

" Because it was done without the consent of the State of Virginia." 

" Then you still cling to the idea that the State is more than the 
nation." 

" Yes ; State rights above everything." 

" Don't you think the war is almost over, — that it is useless for Lee 
to contend further ? " 

" No. He will fight another battle, and he will win. He can fight 
for twenty-five years in the mountains." 

" Do you think that men can live in the mountains ? " 

" Yes ; on roots and herbs, and fight you till you are weary of it, and 
whip you out." 



544 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Having heard that a brigade of coloured troops had been enlisted in 
Richmond for the Confederate army, I made inquiries to ascertain the 
facts. All through the war the rebel authorities had engaged a large 
number of slaves as teamsters and labourers. The immense fortifica- 
tions thrown up around Richmond, Yorktown, Petersburg, Wilmington, 
Charleston, and Savannah were the work of slaves. The rebels said 
that slavery, instead of being a weakness, was an element of strength. 
Slaves built the fortifications and raised the corn and wheat, which 
enabled the Confederacy to send all of its white fighting population to 
the field. But the fighting material was used up. Men were wanted. 
An unsparing conscription failed to fill up the ranks. Then came the 
agitation of the question of employing negro soldiers. 

General Lee advocated the measure. " They possess," said he, " all 
the physical qualifications, and their habits of obedience constitute a 
good foundation for discipline. I think those who are employed should 
be freed. It would neither be just nor wise, in my opinion, to require 
them to serve as slaves. The best course to pursue, it seems to me, 
would be to call for such as are willing to come, — willing to come, 
with the consent of their owners. An impressment or draft would not 
be likely to bring out the best class, and the use of coercion would make 
the measure distasteful to them and to their owners." 

The subject was debated in secret session in Congress, and a bill 
enacted authorising their employment. 

A great meeting was held in the African church to " fire the Southern 
heart," and speeches were made. A recruiting office was opened. The 
newspapers spoke of the success of the movement. Regiments were 
organising. 

" I fear there will soon be a great scarcity of arms when the negroes 
are drilled," wrote the rebel war clerk in his diary, on the 11th of 
March ; and five days later, on the 17th, " We shall have a negro army. 
Letters are pouring into the department from men of military skill and 
character, asking authority to raise companies, battalions, and regiments 
of negro troops. It is the desperate remedy for the very desperate case, 
and may be successful. If three hundred thousand efficient soldiers can 
be made of this material, there is no conjecturing when the next cam- 
paign may end." 

A week later the coloured troops had a parade in Capitol Square. 
There were so few, that the war clerk said it was " rather a ridiculous 
affair." 




LIEUTENANT -GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE, C. S. A. 



IN RICHMOND. 547 

" How many coloured men enlisted ? " I asked of a negro. 

" 'Bout fifty, I reckon, sir. Dey was mostly poor Souf Carolina dark- 
ies, — poor heathen fellers, who didn't know no better." 

" Would you have fought against the Yankees ? " 

" No, sir. Dey might have shot me through de body wid ninety 
thousand balls, before 1 would have fired a gun at my friends." 

" Then you look upon us as your friends ? " 

" Yes, sir. I have prayed for you to come ; and do you think that I 
would have prayed one way and fit de other ? " 

" I '11 tell you, massa, what I would have done," said another, taking 
off his hat and bowing : " I would have taken de gun, and when I 
cotched a chance I'd a shooted it at de rebs and den run for de 
Yankees." 

This brought a general explosion from the crowd, and arrested the 
attention of some white men passing. 

The street was full of people. I was a stranger to them all, but I 
ventured to make this inquiry, — 

" Did you ever see an Abolitionist?" 

" No, massa, I reckon I neber did," was the reply. 

" What kind of people do you think they are ? " 

" Well, massa, I specs dey is a good kind of people." 

u Why do you think so ? " 

" 'Case when I hear bad white folks swearing and cursing about 'em, 
I reckon dar must be something good about 'em." 

" Well, my friends, I am an Abolitionist ; I believe that all men have 
equal rights, and that I have no more right to make a slave of you than 
you have of me." 

Every hat came off in an instant. Hands were reached out toward 
me, and I heard from a dozen tongues a hearty " God bless you, 



sir 



?" 



White men heard me and scowled. Had I uttered those words in 
Richmond twenty-four hours earlier I should have had no opportunity to 
repeat them, but paid for my temerity with a halter or a knife ; but now 
those men who stretched out their hands to me would have given the 
last drop of their blood before they would have seen a hair of my head 
injured, after that declaration. 

The slaves were the true, loyal men of the South. They did what 
they could to help put down the Rebellion by aiding Union prisoners to 
escape, by giving trustworthy information. The Stars and Stripes was 



548 THE BOYS OF '61. 

their banner of hope. What a life they led ! I met a young coloured 
man, with features more Anglo-Saxon than African, who asked : 

" Do you think, sir, that I could obtain employment in the North ? " 

" What can you do ? " 

" Well, sir, I have been an assistant in a drug store. I can put up 
prescriptions. I paid forty dollars a month for my time before the 
Confederate money became worthless, but my master thought that I 
was going to run away to the Yankees, and sold me awhile ago ; and 
he was my own father, sir." 

" Your own father ? " 

" Yes, sir ! They often sell their own flesh and blood, sir ! " 

I ascended the steps of the Capitol and stood on the roof of the 
building to gaze upon the panorama, hardly surpassed in beauty any- 
where, — a lovely combination of city, country, valley, hill, plain, field, 
forest, and foaming river. The events of four years came to remem- 
brance. First, the Secession of the State on the 17th of April, 1861, 
by the convention which sat with closed doors in the hall below, the 
threats of violence uttered against the Union delegates from the western 
counties, the wild tumult of the " People's Convention," so called, in 
Metropolitan Hall, — a body of Secessionists assembling to browbeat 
the convention in the Capitol ; and when the ordinance was passed, the 
appearance of John Tyler, once President of the United States, with 
Governor Wise, among the fire-eaters, welcomed with noisy cheers ; it 
seemed as if I could hear the voice of Tyler as he said that Virginia 
and the people of the South had submitted to aggression till Secession 
was a duty, and that the Almighty would smile upon the work of that 
day. They were the words of a feeble old man, whose every official act 
was in the interest of slavery. Vehement the words of Wise, who 
imagined that the Yankees had seized one of his children as a hostage 
for himself. 

" If they suppose," said he, " that hostages of my own heart's blood 
will stay my hand in a contest for the maintenance of sacred rights, 
they are mistaken. Affection for kindred, property, and life itself sink 
into insignificance in comparison with the overwhelming importance of 
public duty in such a crisis as this." 

Mason, the lordly Senator, and Governor Letcher, the drunken 
executive of the State, also addressed the crazy crowd, fired to a 
burning heat of madness by passion and whiskey. 

On that occasion the Confederate flag was raised upon the flagstaff 



IN RICHMOND. 551 

springing from the roof of the Capitol, although the State had not 
joined the Confederacy. The people were to vote on the question, and 
yet the Convention had enjoined that the act of Secession should be 
kept a secret till Norfolk Navy Yard and Harper's Ferry Arsenal could 
be seized. The newspapers of Richmond had no announcement to 
make the next morning that the State was no longer a member of 
the Union. 

Then came the volunteers thronging the streets. Professor Jackson 
(Stonewall) was drilling the cadets. Three days after the passage of 
the ordinance of Secession, troops were swarming in the yard around 
the Capitol, and A. H. Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederacy, 
and ex-President Tyler, and the drunken Letcher were negotiating an 
alliance, offensive and defensive, between the sovereign State of Virginia 
and the States already confederated to establish a slaveholding republic. 

Next in order was the arrival of Jeff Davis and the perambulating 
Government of the Confederacy, to tarry a few days in Richmond before 
proceeding to Washington. Davis and his followers made boastful 
promises of what they could and would do, breathing out threatenings 
and slaughter against the hated Yankees. Then the hurly-burly, — the 
rush of volunteers, the arrival of troops, welcomed with cheers and 
smiles, the streets through which they passed strewn with flowers by 
the ladies of Richmond. The Confederate Congress and heads of 
departments came, — Stephens, Toombs, Cobb, Floyd, Wigfall, Mem- 
minger, Mallory, — with thousands of place-hunters, filling the city to 
overflowing, putting money into the pockets of the citizens, — not gold 
and silver, but Confederate currency, to be redeemed two years after 
the ratification of the treaty of peace with the United States. Beau- 
regard, the rising star of the South, came from Charleston, to reap 
fresh laurels at Manassas. Richmond was solemn on that memorable 
Sabbath, the 21st of June, 1861, for through the forenoon the reports 
were that the Yankees were winning the day ; but at night, when the 
news came from Davis that the " cowardly horde " was flying, panic- 
stricken, to Washington, how jubilant the crowd ! 

A year later there were pale faces, when the army of McClellan swept 
through Williamsburg. Jeff Davis packed up his furniture, and made 
preparations to leave the city. There was another fright when the 
rebels came back discomfited from Fair Oaks. 

From the roof of the Capitol anxious eyes watched the war-clouds 
rolling up from Mechanicsville and Cold Harbour. Those were mournful 



552 THE BOYS OF '61. 

days. Long lines of ambulances, wagons, coaches, and carts, filled with 
wounded, filed through the streets. How fearful the slaughter to the 
rebels in those memorable seven days' fighting! Deep the maledictions 
heaped upon the drunken Magruder for the carnage at Malvern Hill. 

Beneath the roof on which I stood Stuart, Gregg, and Stonewall 
Jackson, — dead heroes of the Rebellion, — had reposed in state, mourned 
by the weeping multitude. 

Before me were Libby Prison and Belle Isle. What wretchedness 
and suffering there ! Starvation for soldiers of the Union, within sight 
of the fertile fields of Manchester, waving with grain and alive with 
flocks and herds! Nearer the Capitol was the mansion of President 
Davis, the slave-trader's jail, and the slave market. What agony and 
cries of distress within the hearing of the Chief Magistrate of the Con- 
federacy, as mothers pressed their infants to their breasts for the last 
time. 

In front of the Capitol was the stone building erected by the United 
States, where for four years Jeff Davis had played the sovereign, where 
Benjamin, Memminger, Toombs, Mallory, Seddon, Trenholm, and Breck- 
enridge had exercised authority, dispensing places of profit to their 
friends, who came in crowds to find exemption from conscription. 
Beyond, and on either side, was the forest of blackened chimneys, 
tottering walls, and smoking ruins of the fire which had swept away the 
accumulated wealth of years in a day. How terrible the retribution! 
Before the war there was quiet in the city, but there came a reign 
of terror when ruffians ruled, when peaceful citizens dared not be abroad 
after dark. There was sorrow in every household for friends fallen in 
battle, and Poverty sat by many a hearthstone. 

Hardest of all to bear was the charity of their enemies. Under the 
shadow of the Capitol the Christian and Sanitary Commissions were 
giving bread to the needy. Standing there upon the roof I could look 
down upon a throng of men, women, and children receiving food from 
the kind-hearted delegates, upon whose lips were no words of bitterness, 
but only the song of the angels, — " Peace on earth, good-will to men ! " 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

SURRENDER OF LEE. 

AT three o'clock Monday morning, April 3d, Willcox's division of the 
Ninth Corps entered Petersburg just in season to see the rear 
guard of Lee's army disappear over the hills on the north bank of the 
Appomattox, having burned the bridges and destroyed all the supplies 
which could not be transported. Lee's army was divided, — Longstreet, 
Pickett, and Johnson being south of the stream, fifteen miles west of the 
city. Gordon, Mahone, Ewell, and Elzy, with the immense trains of 
supplies and batteries from Richmond, were north of the river, — all 
moving southwest, towards Danville, with the intention of joining 
Johnston in North Carolina. 

" Good-by, boys," said the women of Petersburg, some sorrowfully ; 
others more joyful cried, " We '11 drink pure coffee, with sugar in it, 
to-morrow. No more hard times." They were weary of war. The 
troops passed through the town in silence and dejection. It was a sor- 
rowful march. The successive disasters of Sunday, the sudden breaking 
up, the destruction of property, the scenes of the night, soon had their 
effect upon the spirits of the army. Soldiers slipped from the ranks, 
disappeared in the woods, and threw away their muskets, sick at heart, 
and disgusted with war. Virginia soldiers had little inclination to 
abandon the Old Dominion and fight in North Carolina. They were 
State-rights men, — each State for itself. If Secession could cut loose 
from the Union, why not from the Confederacy ? 

Before noon the troops moving from Petersburg, and those retreating 
from Richmond, with all the baggage trains and flying citizens, came 
together on the Chesterfield road, producing confusion and delay. Had 
Lee thrown his supply trains upon the Lynchburg road, and made a 
days' march farther west with his army, instead of taking the nearest 
road to Danville, he probably would have escaped ; but his progress was 
very slow. The roads were soft, the Avagons overloaded. The stalling 
of a single horse in the advance delayed the whole army. 

The teamsters were quite as unwilling to go south as the soldiers. 

553 



554 



THE BOYS OF '61. 



They expected every minute to hear the ringing shouts of Sheridan's 
men charging upon their flank or rear. There were frequent panics, 
which set them into a fever of excitement, and added to the confusion. 

Grant determined to prevent Lee's escape if possible. The Ninth 
Corps was detailed to hold the town, guard the railroad, reconstruct it, 
and follow the other corps as a reserve. The Second, Fifth, and Sixth 




MAJOR-GENERAL EDWARD O. C. ORD. 



Corps, instead of crossing the river, were sent upon the double-quick 
along the road which runs between the Appomattox and the South Side 
Railroad. 

Ord, with the divisions of the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Corps, 
marched for Burkesville Junction. Sheridan, being in advance with the 
cavalry, reached Jettersville, on the Richmond and Danville road, forty- 
four miles from Richmond, on the 4th, tore up the track, entrenched his 



SURRENDER OF LEE. 555 

position, and waited for the infantry. Meade joined him on the morn- 
ing of the 5th, while Ord, by a forced march, reached Burkesville, south 
of Sheridan. 

Lee crossed the Appomattox at Clemenstown, moved southwest to 
Amelia Court House, where he was joined by Longstreet's, Pickett's, and 
Johnson's troops. The Appomattox has its rise in Prince Edward 
County, runs northeast, approaching within fifteen miles of the James, 
then turns southeast, and joins the James at Petersburg. 

The bridge at Clemenstown, on which Lee crossed, was narrow and 
unsafe, and the army was much hindered. Had he not crossed at all, 
but marched round the bend instead, he might have slipped past Sheri- 
dan while that officer was waiting at Jettersville for Meade to join him. 
On the 5th Meade, finding that he was ahead of Lee, instead of march- 
ing west, turned northeast, and swept up the railroad toward Amelia, 
with the Fifth Corps on the right, the Second in the centre, and the 
Sixth on the left with the cavalry. Lee, seeing that he could not go 
down the railroad, instead of marching southwest, as he had done the 
day before, moved directly west, to give Meade the slip, if possible. He 
abandoned wagons, caissons, and forage, and everything that impeded his 
march. 

The trains from Richmond were crossing the bridge when a panic set 
in. " While we were gazing," says a rebel writer, " at the wagons mov- 
ing up from the bridge and entering the road leading to the court- 
house, our ears caught the sound of five or six shots in succession ; 
and, looking in the direction whence the sound came, we perceived two 
or three horsemen emerge from a wood about half a mile distant, and as 
quickly retire. We could not discern their uniform, but the supposition 
was, of course, that they were a part of Sheridan's cavalry. There was 
a slight confusion at the head of the train, and then a halt. ' The 
Yankees ! Sheridan ! ' As the cry echoed from man to man, the team- 
sters began to turn their mules towards the river, many involving them- 
selves with those in their rear, while others dismounted and sought the 
nearest wood. In five minutes the scene had been changed from quiet 
to the utmost disorder. The wagons were turned back with astonishing 
rapidity, each teamster unmercifully lashing his jaded animals, as 
anxious to reach the other side as an hour before he had been to get to 
this. The cavalry, who had been scattered over the fields, cooking or 
eating their breakfasts, now caught the alarm, and, leaving their rations, 
grasped their bridles, mounted, and spurred their horses towards the 



556 THE BOYS OF '61. 

bridge. For this point all were aiming, and the footsore infantry 
seemed to have but a poor chance of life in the road now jammed with 
wagons, mules, and mounted men. The narrow defile, bounded on 
either side by tall rocks, was filled with horses, wagons, and men, all 
unable to advance a foot toward the desired point. 

" Upon the other side (north) the panic was even greater, the rumour 
prevailing that five hundred Yankees were in our front, and that a large 
number of our wagons had been captured and burned. Vainly plunging 
their sharp spurs into the steaming flanks of the poor mules, and still 
unable to make them trot through the mud and up the steep hills, the 
teamsters cut loose the traces, and, remounting, would gallop away, 
flourishing their long whips, yelling, and urging their horses to the 
utmost speed. Forsaking the road, they leaped the fences, thronged the 
fields, and sought the wood for hiding-places. . . . Scores of broken- 
down and wrecked wagons and ambulances were overturned and aban- 
doned, their contents being strewed over the road ; corn and oats, meal 
and flour, covered the ground, while quartermaster's papers were scat- 
tered in every direction. Clothing and even medicinal stores had been 
in like manner thrown away." 

When General Meade discovered Lee's new movement, he wheeled 
toward the left, and faced the Second and Fifth Corps northwest. The 
Fifth Corps moved up to Painesville, which is northwest of Amelia ; but 
Griffin, commanding, was too late to strike Lee, whose rear guard had 
passed that point. The Second Corps moved through Deatonville, which 
is five miles west of Jettersville, while the Sixth Corps, moving south- 
west, came upon the Confederates on Little Sailor's Creek, a small trib- 
utary of the Appomattox, running north. The Twenty -fourth Corps, 
meanwhile, marching from Burkesville up the railroad, joined the Sixth 
Corps at the head of the creek. 

Early in the morning of the 6th General Ord directed that the Peters- 
burg and Lynchburg Railroad bridge across the Appomattox be seized 
and held if possible ; if not able to hold it, the troops were to destroy it. 
The Fifty-fourth Pennsylvania and One Hundred and Twenty-third 
Ohio were sent to do the work. They moved toward the river, but 
suddenly found themselves on the right flank of Lee's army, which was 
in line of battle, between Sailor's Creek and the Appomattox. 

Lee made a stand at this point to save his trains. He was still hop- 
ing to reach Danville. If he could fight a successful battle, his wagons 
would have time to slip away from Sheridan. He had already been 



SURRENDER OF LEE. 559 

forced ten miles out of his direct line of march, and if he failed here 
he must give up all expectation of reaching Danville, and strike west 
towards Lynchburg. 

His army stood on the west bank of Sailor's Creek, facing east and 
southeast, behind entrenchments, with the Appomattox, which here runs 
northeast, behind him. 

The forenoon was passed in skirmishing, on the part of the Union 
troops. The regiments sent to seize the bridge were not able to accom- 
plish the task, and were driven with severe loss. But now the Second 
Corps came up, a foothold was gained across the creek, and Lee's left 
flank was forced towards the river. 

It was nearly four o'clock in the afternoon before the Sixth Corps 
came up with the enemy. This corps had been marching southwest ; 
but when the skirmishers discovered the enemy, Wright halted Sey- 
mour's division, which was in advance, faced it west, while Wheaton's 
division filed past Seymour's and took position on the left. The third 
division was in reserve. The cavalry was on the left of Wheaton. 
Sheridan found himself confronted by Ewell's and Kershaw's divisions, 
which were strongly entrenched. 

Seymour and Wheaton moved from the road west, went down the 
steep declivity into the ravine, receiving the fire of the rebels without 
flinching, crossed the creek, ascended the other bank, and dashed upon 
the entrenchments. At the same moment Custer's division of cavalry 
advanced with sabres drawn, their horses upon the run, goaded with 
spur and quickened by shout, till they caught the wild enthusiasm of 
their riders, and horses and men unitedly became as fiery Centaurs, the 
earth trembling beneath the tread of the thousands of hoofs, the air 
resounding with bugle-blasts and thrilling cheers ! 

The charge of this division was heroic. The Confederate artillery 
opened with shells, followed by canister. The infantry, protected by 
breastworks, were able to give a galling fire, but the squadrons swept 
everything before them, leaping the entrenchment, sabring all who 
resisted, crushing the whole of Lee's right wing by a single blow, 
gathering up thousands of prisoners, who stood as if paralysed by the 
tremendous shock. 

Entire regiments threw down their arms. Miles of wagons, caissons, 
ambulances, forges, arms, and ammunition, all that belonged to that por- 
tion of the line, was lost to Lee in a moment. Generals Ewell, Ker- 
shaw, Defoe, Barton, Custis Lee, Borden, and Corse were prisoners 
almost before they knew it. 



560 



THE BOYS OF '61. 




BRKVKT MAJOR-GENKRAL GEO. A. CUSTER. 



" Further fighting is useless ; it will be a waste of life," said Ewell to 
Custer. 

" Bravely done, Custer," said Sheridan, riding up, and complimenting 
his lieutenant in the presence of the whole division. 



SURRENDER OF LEE. 561 

After receiving this paralysing blow Lee gave up all hope of reach- 
ing Danville. He could move only in the direction of Lynchburg. 
Caissons, wagons, and ambulances were burned, cannon abandoned, 
commissary supplies left by the roadside. 

It was a day of jubilee to the coloured people, who swarmed out from 
their cabins and appropriated the plunder. 

" 'Pears like as if we were spiling the Egyptians," said an old man 
who had gathered an immense pile of blankets and coats. 

There was a skirmish at Farmville the next morning, between the 
cavalry and the left wing of Lee's army. The centre, and what re- 
mained of the right wing, crossed the Appomattox ten miles above 
Farmville, both columns moving to Appomattox Court House, where 
Lee hoped to unite his scattered forces. 

Grant and Meade, with the Second and Sixth Corps, crossed at Farm- 
ville, and followed Lee along the Petersburg and Lynchburg turnpike. 
Ord, joined by the Fifth, starting from Burkesville, took the shortest 
road to Appomattox Court House, nearly fifty miles distant, while Sheri- 
dan, with the main body of the cavalry, made a rapid movement 
southwest to cut off Lee's retreat. The pursuit from Sailor's Creek 
commenced on Friday morning, and Lee was brought to bay Saturday 
noon. 

It was an exciting race. There were frequent interchanges of shots 
between the cavalry, hovering like a cloud upon Lee's flank, also captures 
of abandoned wagons, ambulances, caissons, pieces of artillery, and pick- 
ing up of stragglers. Glimpses of the rebel forces were sometimes had 
across the ravines. As a sight of the flying deer quickens the pursuit of 
the hound, so an occasional view of the flying enemy roused the soldiers 
to a wild and irrepressible enthusiasm, and their shouts and cheers rang 
long and loud through the surrounding woodlands. 

Appomattox Court House is at the head-waters of the Appomattox 
River, on the table-land between the rivulets which give rise to that 
stream and the James River, which makes its great southern bend at 
Lynchburg. The place is sometimes called Clover Hill. It is a small 
village, such as are to be seen throughout the Old Dominion, — one or 
two good, substantial houses, surrounded by a dozen or twenty miserable 
cabins. 

Lee succeeded in reuniting his troops, numbering not more than a 
division, such as once marched under his direction up the heights of Get- 
tysburg, or moved into the fight in the Wilderness ; but when reunited 



562 THE BOYS OF '61. 

and ready to move upon Lynchburg, he found the cloud which had hung 
upon his flank and rear now enveloping him on the north, the east, the 
south, the west. Sheridan had swung past him, Ord and Griffin were 
south of him, holding the road leading to Danville, while Wright and 
Humphrey, east and north, were preparing to drive him over against 
Sheridan, who in turn would toss him down towards Ord and Griffin. 

Great was the consternation when, on Saturday morning, the Con- 
federates discovered that Sheridan was cutting off their retreat to 
Lynchburg. 

" Yankees at Appomattox ! Sheridan ! " was the cry of a party of 
officers on a locomotive, hastening to Lynchburg in season to escape the 
Union cavalrymen then advancing to tear up the rails. Sheridan 
pounced upon the artillery, and on the afternoon of the 8th captured 
twenty-five pieces. Meade at the same time came upon the rear of the 
fleeing troops a mile east of the court-house, and captured a battery. 
Lee's men were melting away, worn down by hard marching and fight- 
ing, and discouraged by defeat and disaster. His provisions were getting 
low, as the larger part of the supplies had been abandoned. His 
condition was critical. 

It was a gloomy night. A courier brought intelligence that Sheridan 
had possession of Concord Station. 

" We all felt," says a rebel writer, " our hearts chilled by this new 
rumour. Concord Station was between us and Lynchburg, and we had 
no knowledge of any other road to that place than that which we were 
pursuing. Turning back, our capture was inevitable. The generals 
withdrew to consult, the staff officers conversed in low tones, while the 
soldiers, teamsters, the cause being unknown, did not hesitate to declare 
their impatience at the delay." 

Lee called his last council of war, summoning Longstreet, Pickett, 
Gordon, and Hill. The condition of affairs was discussed. It was a 
sad hour. The Confederate commander-in-chief was much depressed. 
He did not know that the infantry under Ord and Griffin were south of 
him, but supposed that his way was disputed only by Sheridan. It was 
decided to force a passage. The attack was made, but the volleys of 
musketry and the vigour of the cannonade, and the long lines of men in 
blue, convinced him that he had little chance of escaping. The skir- 
mishing was kept up through the day, — both parties too wearied and 
exhausted to fight a general battle, — yet each moment of delay made 
the Confederates' condition more hopeless. 






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SURRENDER OF LEE. 565 

Grant had despatched a letter to Lee on the 7th, from Farmville, ask- 
ing the surrender of the army of Northern Virginia. 

Lee replied the same day, asking for terms. 

On the 8th, Grant sent a second letter, insisting upon one condition 
only : " That the men and officers shall be disqualified for taking up 
arms against the United States until properly exchanged." 

" I do not think the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender of 
this army," Lee answered, but at the same time asked for an interview 
at ten o'clock next morning. Sheridan had not closed all the roads to 
Lynchburg, but was in such a position that it was impossible for the 
Confederate army to escape. Breckenridge, with a large number of 
officers and many thousands of privates, struck northwest, through by- 
roads and fields, crossed James River, reached Lynchburg, and passed 
into North Carolina. 

The Second Corps was in position on Sunday morning, waiting the 
order to advance, when a flag of truce was displayed in front of Miles's 
division. Captain J. D. Cook, of General Miles's staff, was sent to 
receive it. He was met by Colonel Taylor, of Lee's staff, who brought a 
note asking for a suspension of hostilities to take into consideration the 
terms offered by General Grant on Saturday. General Meade signified 
by note that he had no authority to enter into an armistice, but would 
wait two hours before making an attack, and would communicate with 
General Grant. 

Before the expiration of the time General Grant arrived, and a corre- 
spondence followed, which resulted in the appointment of a place of meet- 
ing for a more full consideration of the terms proposed by General Grant. 

In the little village of Appomattox Court House, there is a large, 
square brick house, with a portico in front, the residence of William 
McLean. Roses were budding in the garden on that Sabbath morning, 
violets and daffodils were already in bloom, and the trees which shaded 
the dwelling were green with the verdure of spring. General Lee des- 
ignated it as the place for meeting General Grant. It was a little past 
two o'clock in the afternoon when General Lee, accompanied by General 
Marshall, his chief of staff, entered the house. A few minutes later 
General Grant arrived, accompanied by his staff. 

The meeting was in the parlour, a square room, carpeted, furnished 
with a sofa and centre-table. Lee, dressed in a suit of gray, was sitting 
by the table when Grant entered. Time had silvered his hair and 
beard. He wore an elegant sword, a gift from his friends. 



566 THE BOYS OF '61. 

General Grant had left his sword behind, and appeared in the same 
suit he had worn in the field through the eventful days, — a plain blue 
frock, with a double row of buttons, and shoulder-straps bearing the 
three silver stars, the insignia of his rank as lieutenant-general. 

The meeting was cordial. After salutations, the two commanders 
sat down, placed their hats on the table, and conversed as freely as in 
other days when both were in the service of the United States. Gen- 
eral Lee alluded to the correspondence which had passed between them. 

" General, I have requested this interview, to know more fully the 
terms which you propose," said General Lee. 

General Grant replied that he would grant parole to officers and men, 
and that the officers might retain their side - arms and their personal 
effects. General Lee assented to the proposition, and did not ask for 
any modification of the terms, which were then engrossed. The paper 
was signed by General Lee at half-past three o'clock. 

After he had affixed his signature, General Lee asked for General 
Grant's understanding of the term " personal effects," which had been 
used in the instrument. 

" Many of my cavalrymen own their horses," he said. 

" I think that the horses must be turned over to the United States," 
was the reply. 

" I coincide in that opinion," was Lee's rejoinder. 

" But," said General Grant, " I will instruct the officers who are 
appointed to carry out the capitulation to allow those who own horses 
to take them home. They will need them to do their spring ploughing, 
and to till their farms." 

" Allow me to express my thanks for such consideration and gener- 
osity on your part. It cannot fail of having a good effect," General Lee 
replied, with emotion. 

After further conversation General Lee expressed a hope that each 
soldier of his army might be furnished with a certificate, or some other 
evidence of parole, to prevent them from being forced into further 
service by Confederate conscripting officers. 

" I will order such certificates to be issued to every man," said Gen- 
eral Grant; and as soon as the preliminaries were settled, the headquar- 
ters printing-press was put to work striking off blanks for that purpose. 

" My army is short of rations," said Lee. 

" You shall be supplied," and an order was at once issued to the 
commissary to furnish rations to the prisoners. 



SURRENDER OF LEE. 



567 



The question of terms had been discussed the evening previous around 
Grants camp-fire. Grant stated that he wanted such a surrender as 
would break down the positions which France and England had taken 




APRIL: 





GENERAL LEE LEAVING THE MCLEAN HOUSE AFTER THE SURRENDER. 

in recognising the rebels as belligerents. He did not wish for humiliat- 
ing terms. He would not require a formal grounding of arms. The 
rebels were Americans, and his object was to restore them to the Union 
and not to degrade them. 



568 THE BOYS OF '61. 

Lee returned to his army and stated the terms of capitulation, which 
were received with great satisfaction, especially by those who owned 
horses. They cheered loudly, and no doubt heartily. The terms were 
such as they had not expected. The newspapers of the South had per- 
sistently represented the men of the North as bloodthirsty and vindic- 
tive, as vandals, robbers, and murderers, capable of doing the work of 
fiends, and the remarkable leniency of Grant surprised them. 

The terms were not altogether acceptable to Grant's army. Many of 
the officers remembered that General Pickett never had resigned his 
commission in the United States service, but that he had taken up arms 
against the country without any scruples of conscience. He was a 
deserter and a traitor, found in arms. The soldiers remembered that 
scores of their comrades had been shot or hung for deserting the ranks ; 
the utmost leniency of the Government was a long term of imprisonment 
in a penitentiary or confinement on Dry Tortugas. Sentinels had been 
shot for falling asleep while on duty ; yet General Pickett and his 
fellow traitors were, by the terms of the parole, granted an indulgence 
which was equivalent to a pardon. It was General Pickett who hung 
the Union men of North Carolina, who had enlisted in the service of the 
Union, but who, under the fortunes of war, had fallen into his hands. 
In General Pickett's estimation they had committed an unpardonable 
crime. He considered them as citizens of the Confederacy, and hung 
them upon the nearest tree. It was cold-blooded murder. But his 
desertion, treason, inhumanity, and murders were offset by the plea that 
the North could afford to be magnanimous to a conquered foe ! The 
soldiers idolised Grant as a commander. They had no objection to his 
terms with the privates of Lee's army, but there was dissent from 
including Pickett and Ewell, and other rebel officers who had been 
notoriously inhuman to Union soldiers. The Confederate soldiers were 
generally humane toward prisoners, especially after the first year of the 
war. Many instances might be cited of their kindness to the wounded 
on the battle-field and to prisoners in their hands. The officers in the 
field were also kind, but the political leaders, the women, and officers in 
charge of prisons were cruel and vindictive. 

The hour came for Lee to part with his officers. He retained his 
calmness and composure, but they could not refrain from shedding 
tears. It was to be their last meeting. He was to lead them no more 
in battle. 

The occasion brought before them an acute sense that all was over, 



SURRENDER OF LEE. 569 

— all lost ; their sacrifices, sufferings, heroism, had been in vain ; their 
pride was humbled ; instead of being victors, they were vanquished ; 
history and the impartial verdict of mankind perhaps would hold them 
responsible for the blood which had been shed. It was a sad hour to 
that body of men in gray, wearing the stars of a perished Confederacy. 

The intelligence of the capitulation was communicated to Grant's 
army by bulletin. As the news flew along the lines on that Sabbath 
morning, the cheering was prolonged and vociferous. For the first time 
in four years the veterans who had toiled in the mud of the Peninsula, 
who had been beaten back from Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, who 
had stood like a wall of adamant on the banks of the Antietam, and the 
heights of Gettysburg, who had pressed Lee from the Wilderness to Five 
Forks, who had brought him to bay at last, were to have a peaceful 
night. 

Their fighting was over, and there was to be no more charging of 
batteries ; nor long watchings in the trenches, drenched by rains, parched 
by summer heat, or numbed by the frosts of winter ; no more scenes of 
blood, of wasting away in hospitals, or murders and starvation in 
prisons. It was the hour of peace. In the radiant light of that Sabbath 
sun they could rejoice in the thought that they had once more a reunited 
country ; that an abject people had been redeemed from slavery ; that 
the honour of the nation had been vindicated ; that the flag which trai- 
tors had trailed in the dust at the beginning of the conflict was more 
than ever the emblem of the world's best hopes. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

CONCLUSION. 

I made no effort to overtake the fleeing Confederates, but remained in 
Richmond during the week that saw the collapse of the Confederacy. 
It was my fortune to be at City Point when, at daybreak on the morning 
of April 12th, a train arrived from Burkesville bringing Gen. Grant and 
his staff. The lieutenant-general walked slowly up the steep bank to 
his headquarters, not with the air of a conqueror, but as if sleep and 
rest would be far more acceptable than the congratulations of a 
noisy crowd. Four years had passed since he left his quiet home in 
Illinois, a humble citizen, unknown beyond his village borders ; but now 
his name was inseparably connected with a great moral convulsion, 
world-wide in its influence, enduring as time in its results. The mighty 
conflict of ideas had swept round the globe like a tidal wave of the ocean. 
Industry had been quickened in every land, and new channels of trade 
opened among the nations. Wherever human language was spoken, 
men talked of the war between Slavery and Freedom, and aspirations 
for good were awakened in the hearts of toiling millions in Europe, on 
the burning sands of Africa, and in the jungles of Hindostan, to whom 
life was bare existence and the future ever hopeless. 

The four years of fighting were over ; the Rebellion was subdued. 
On the first of April Lee had a large army, but suddenly he had been 
overwhelmed. That which seemed so formidable had disappeared, like 
a bubble in the sunshine. Though the rebels saw that the Confederacy 
was threatened as it had not been at any other period of the war, there 
were few, if any, who, up to the latest hour, dreamed that there could 
be such an overturning of affairs. That Lee had held his ground so 
long was a warranty that he could successfully resist all Grant's efforts 
to take Richmond. The Confederate Congress met daily in the capital, 
passed resolutions, enacted laws, and debated questions of State, as if 
the Confederacy had a place among the nations, with centuries of 
prosperity and glory in prospect. But their performance had come to 

570 



CONCLUSION. 571 

an unexpected end. The last act of the tragedy was given on the 14th, 
— the assassination of the President. 

What drama surpasses it in interest ? What period of the world's 
history is more replete with great events affecting the welfare of the 
human race? In 1861, when the curtain rose, the world beheld a 
nation, peaceful, happy, prosperous. Then came the spectacle, — the 
procession of seceding States, with bugles sounding, colours flying, the 
bombardment of Sumter ; the uprising of the people of the North, 
the drum-beat heard in every village, flags floating from all the steeples, 
streamers and banners from all the house-tops, great battles, defeat, and 
victory ; a ploughman and splitter of rails the liberator of the enslaved, 
their enlistment as soldiers of the Republic ; the patriotism of the 
people ; woman's work of love and mercy ; the ghastly scenes in South- 
ern prisons, the conflagration of cities set on fire by the rebels, the 
breaking up of the Confederacy, the assassination, the capture of the 
rebel chief, the return of the victorious armies, the 'last grand military 
pageant at Washington, and then the retirement of the soldiers to 
peaceful life ! Sublime the picture ! 

The conflict commenced as a rebellion, but ended in revolution. 
Slavery has disappeared. Civil liberty is stronger than in 1861. Four 
millions of freedmen are candidates for citizenship, who at the beginning 
of the Rebellion had no rights under the flag of the Union. 

The Rebellion was an attempt to suppress Truth and Justice by 
tyranny. The effort might have been successful in earlier ages, but not 
in the nineteenth century, and never will the attempt be repeated on 
American soil, for the tendency of mind is towards a clearer perception 
of the rights of man. America uttered her protest against despotic 
power in 1776. " It was an experiment," said the aristocracies of 
Europe. The " republican bubble has burst," said Earl Russell in 
1861 ; but the Republic lives, and the false and ignoble distinctions 
in the society of the Old World, which slavery attempted to establish 
in the New, have been reversed. America teaches this truth to the 
wondering nations, — that the strongest government rests, not on 
the few, not on property, never on injustice, but on the people, on 
diffused wealth and enlightened mind, on obligation to man and God. 

Kings will yet lay aside their sceptres, and subjects will become 
sovereigns, because the people of America, by example, have shown the 
world that civil and religious liberty for all, as well as for the few, is 
of more value than human life. 



572 THE BOYS OF '61. 

How lavish $ie expenditure of blood ! How generous the outpouring 
of the wine of life by the heroic dead ! 

" Song of peace, nor battle's roar, 

Ne'er shall break their slumbers more ; 

Death shall keep his solemn trust, 
' Earth to earth, and dust to dust.' " 

Dead, yet living. Their patriotism, sacrifice, endurance, patience, 
faith, and hope can never die. Loved and lamented, but immortal. 
Paeans for the living, dirges for the dead. Their work is done, not for 
an hour, a day, a year, but for all time ; not for fame or ambition, but 
for the poor, the degraded, the oppressed of all lands, for civilisation 
and Christianity, for the welfare of the human race through Time 
and Eternity ! 



THE END. 



